


Whumptober 2019 Irondad Edition

by dancingroses



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spiderman - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Whump, Whumptober 2019, im v proud, pls read, this is a book of all the Whumptober Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-16 15:56:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 31
Words: 38,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20861714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingroses/pseuds/dancingroses
Summary: This is a collection of all of the Whumptober 2019 prompts with Irondad and spider son as the main characters. I’m very proud of this, it’s a huge writing challenge for me. This is a massive project, and I’m crazy excited!None of these stories are beta read, and all were written at 2 am each night of October, so I apologize for any and all typos.-IMPORTANT-This entire work takes place BETWEEN Endgame and Far From Home. I have taken creative liberties involving the Blip, and the fact that Tony is still alive. This fic is NOT Endgame compliant. Also, Morgan and Pepper do not exist, not because I don’t like them, but because I don’t know how to write for them and I didn’t wanna do their legacy injustice.





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 1: Shaky Hands
> 
> I’m massively proud of this chapter. I used my own experiences with panic attacks to write Peter’s.

This was not exactly how Tony had planned his evening. Then again, when does anything ever go to plan?

He had been working on Dum-E, reprogramming a simple flaw in the robot’s code. But then there were some beeps and the sound of the door sliding open and suddenly someone was crying.

Tony looked up quickly, finding Peter standing in the doorway. Tony recognized the situation immediately.

“Hey Pete. What’s wrong? What happened?” He asked, gently approaching the sobbing teenager.

Peter’s breaths were coming quickly, far too quickly. The second air entered his lungs they ejected it right back out. The combination of hyperventilation and the harsh cries wracking Peter’s body were suffocating him.

“Peter, hey. You gotta breathe for me okay? Whatever happened, we’ll fix it okay? Just relax.” Tony had never seen the kid like this before. Sure he’d seen the kid panic once or twice over something silly, but he’d never seen a full blown panic attack before.

Peter slipped down to his knees, and Tony followed. He grabs the boy’s trembling hands. They were shaking so badly that once they made contact Tony’s own hands started to shake as well.

“Peter. I’m gonna take you through something called 478. Okay? It’s a breathing exercise. Just try and follow along. Can you do that?” Tony was being so gentle, so soft. He didn’t want to give the kid something new to panic about.

Peter’s only response was to nod.

“Okay. Breathe in for four seconds. I know it’s hard but just try, okay?” Peter followed the best he could. His breaths were shaky and timid, but at least he was breathing.

“Now hold it for seven.” Tony counted for him. It was silly, but when Tony would have panic attacks, he found himself having trouble telling time. So he could only assume that Peter wasn’t capable of counting seconds on his own right now.

Again, Peter listens.

“Now breathe out for eight seconds.” The breath is rushed out and Peter is coughing, but it’s a start.

The two of them continue to follow the exercise, and over the course of a few minutes, Peter’s breathing begins to slow. His hands are still shaking. 

“That’s good. You’re doing great, Pete. Keep going.” Slowly, painfully, Peter calms down. His breaths are steady and normal, and eventually his hands begin to still.

“Okay. You wanna tell me what that was about?” Tony asks him kindly, a hand on the kid’s shoulder to steady him. Peter takes a deep breath, and Tony releases the one he didn’t realize he was holding. 

“Toomes. The building. I had a nightmare. I was stuck, Mr. Stark. I was stuck, and it was dark, and I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t- I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was gonna die.” Peter speaks so fast that Tony barely hears him. But he hears enough.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe. Nightmares are going to happen, Pete. It’s completely normal. But you’re safe, you can breathe now.” Tony reassures him, and in this moment Peter looks so young. So much like the child that Tony often forgets he is.

“Do you think you’re ready to go back to bed?” Peter nods, still sniffling. He gathers himself, and Tony pulls him to his feet.

“C’mon kid, let's get you back to bed.”

They arrive back at Peter’s room to find the clock reading 3:37 am. Tony didn’t even know it was that late.

Peter crawls back into his mess of a bed, curling up under the sheets like an armadillo. Tony sits on the edge of the bed and runs his hand through Peter’s curly hair.

“You gonna be okay if I leave you here?” Tony is surprised with himself. He sounds so much like a dad. He only hopes he sounds like a good one.

“Mhm. Thanks Mr. Stark.” Peter speaks softly, already falling back asleep. Tony smiles, patting the kid’s shoulder before turning out the light and heading back to the lab.

Instead of working, he sits on his stool and thinks about how his life ended up here.

And he thinks about how grateful he is to have Peter in his life.


	2. Explosion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the name implies, Tony’s car explodes with Peter right next to it

If Peter was being honest, this wasn’t the most ridiculous thing that’s happened this week. But it was in the top three.

Going out to lunch with Mr. Stark sounded like a fun trip. He suspected that Tony wanted to talk to him about something serious, but it probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

What he should be worrying about is the fact that Mr. Stark is calling his name with panic in his voice.

But let’s rewind.

“C’mon kid, let's blow this popsicle stand.” Tony said, grabbing his phone and walking towards the front door. Peter jumped up to follow.

The two walked to the car with Peter a few steps in front of Tony. Peter reached forward to open the door, and that’s when it happened. 

Suddenly, Peter was catapulted backwards by a catastrophic force, knocking him into his back several feet away from the car.

He didn’t even have time to try to understand what happened before his head hit the concrete and he passed out.

“-eter! Peter, can you hear me?” Tony sounded worried. Why was he worried?

Peter groaned loudly, forcing himself to sit up. His hand flew to his right ear, which sounded like someone had stuck a fire alarm in it. The ringing was painful, and when he pulled his hand away there was blood.

“Oh.” Was all he could think to say. Tony continued to pester, turning Peter’s head this way and that to inspect the blood.

“Mr. Stark, I’m fine.” Peter assured him, starting to try and stand up. Tony helped pull him to his feet, and the two backed away from the car.

Tony turned to look at Peter, and his eyes bulged out of his head.

“Peter!” Tony shouted, panic clear on his face. His eyes singled in on Peter’s stomach, causing the kid to follow his gaze and look down.

“Oh.” He said again.

“I didn’t even notice that. Why didn’t I notice that? That feels- that seems like something you… you’re supposed to notice…” Peter’s words were slurring. The shock was mixing in with sudden agonizing pain that he hadn’t paid attention to up until now.

There was a large piece of metal lodged in his stomach. It hurt. Boy did it hurt. And suddenly he felt dizzy.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter felt his knees give out as he collapsed. Tony caught him just in time. He got Peter on his back, and started looking over the wound.

“FRIDAY, call Bruce. Tell him I need the Med Bay immediately.” Tony orders, his hands hovering nervously above Peter’s wound.

“Yes Boss.”

Peter could see black spots creeping over his vision.

Suddenly there was a fiery pain, a new pain. Peter cried out, his hands flying out in blind panic to protect himself.

“Peter! Kid, it’s okay! It’s just me.” Tony yelled, grabbing Peter’s wrists in one hand.

“Let me help.” He insisted, using some odd mechanic in his nanotech suit to freeze over the wound. Peter flinches at the cold, a sigh escaping his lips.

“C’mon Squirt. Let’s get you upstairs.” Tony is as gentle as he can be lifting Peter into his arms, but the kid still whines.

He carries him up to the third floor, reminding himself to move the med bay lower down. 

Bruce is there waiting for them.

“What the hell happened to him?” Bruce asks as Tony lays Peter on the table.

“My car exploded. Don’t know why. Don’t know how. Kid got hit by a big chunk of metal.” Tony is tense. And Peter can almost feel the guilt coming off him in waves. He knew that Tony would blame himself for this. When doesn’t he?

Bruce got to work taking care of the large wound, while Tony anxiously paced back and forth. Peter had fallen unconscious again by this point, and Tony was grateful.

“All done. Don’t worry, knowing what I do about his regeneration he should be fine by tomorrow morning. Won’t even leave a scar.” Bruce assures him, patting his friend on the shoulder.

“You should stay with him. He’ll probably be confused when he wakes up. I’m gonna go check out the car. Maybe I can see what caused it to blow up.” Tony only nods, bringing a chair over to sit next to Peter.

It’s over an hour before he wakes up. Tony is startled by a groan, and he jerks his head up to find Peter is moving.

“Peter! Hey, go slow okay?” Bruce was right. Peter looks very confused.

“Where am I?” He asks, his hands going to his stomach.

“You’re fine. You’re in the med bay. Bruce helped us out.” Peter’s confused expression smooths out a bit, and he looks around the room.

“Dr. Banner? Where is he?” Peter asks, looking back at Tony.

“He went to check out the car.” Tony tells him, resting a hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“I should help.” Peter says, already moving to sit up before Tony can even blink.

“Woah, woah. No kid. Sit back down. You just got stabbed with a huge chunk of metal. You’re not going anywhere.” Tony orders, pushing the kid back down. 

“But I can help!” Peter insists, whacking Tony’s hand.

“He doesn’t need help. Just for once in your life, relax okay?” Peter sighs but he lays back down.

“You’re gonna kill me, you know that?” Tony jokes, patting the kid’s arm.

Peter laughs heartily. “I doubt I’ll get to before you get blown up again.”

Tony cracks a smile too. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

No. He really, really doesn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this one, it’s a few hundred words longer than the first chapter, which I’m happy about!


	3. Delirium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets drugged by someone while out on patrol, and he ends up confused and sick.

Peter wasn’t 100% sure where he was. All he was sure about was the fact that he could feel the earth spinning.

The walls on either side of him were swimming, waving back and forth like a large flag. The floor beneath his feet was spinning alongside the earth, and his head was pounding.

His stomach was tumbling like clothes in a washing machine, and he felt wet. Why was he wet?

Trying to take a step, he found he could barely control his feet and he collapsed to the dirty ground beneath him.

“Peter. I am detecting signs of distress. Shall I call Mr. Stark?” Karen asks, and Peter thinks the AI almost sounds concerned about him.

“Yeah…” The word is slurred and drawn out, and Peter watches in fascination as the street lights above him turn into white blobs and start to undulate.

Suddenly he hears a new voice. “Peter? Where are you? What’s wrong?” Tony definitely sounds worried.

“I don’t know.” Peter whispers, raising his hand above him and watching his fingers move around.

“FRIDAY, give me his location right now.” He hears Tony order.

“Alright kid, I’m on my way. Stay where you are.” Tony tells him, and Peter can hear wind flying past the suit over the phone.

It’s only five minutes before Tony arrives to find Peter on the floor in the alley. He exits his suit, rushing to Peter’s side.

“Peter. Hey! What’s wrong?” Tony asks, and he seems nervous. But Peter isn’t focusing on Tony. He’s still watching the lights.

“FRIDAY, talk to me.” Tony demands, pushing Peter’s hair out of his face.

“Excessive sweating, increased temperature, dilated pupils, and lack of coordination indicates that Peter has been dosed with LSD.” FRIDAY concludes. Peter thinks she too sounds concerned.

“Jesus. Okay kid, let’s get you back to the tower, alright?” Tony climbs back into his suit, before picking up Peter and flying him back to the tower.

They land on the balcony, and before Tony can even exit the suit again Peter is puking in a trash can by the door. Tony makes his way over, rubbing Peter’s back.

“Get it out, kid.” Peter is coughing, and it’s an awful and painful sound.

“C’mon Underoos. Let’s get you inside.” Tony pulls Peter to his feet, letting his arm hang over his shoulders to help him stand. Tony practically drags the stumbling kid inside, dropping him on the couch.

“Where are we?” Peter whines, rubbing his forehead.

“We’re in the tower, Pete.” Tony assures him, feeling how warm Peter’s forehead is.

“I don’t… I don’t like it here, I gotta go.” Peter mumbles, already standing and stumbling towards the door.

“Woah woah, Peter! Come back here. You need to lay down.” Tony rushes after him, grabbing Peter’s arm and pulling him back towards the couch.

“Where are we?” Peter asks again, and Tony sighs, gently getting Peter back on the couch.

“We’re in the tower, remember?” Tony is trying to be patient, but he’s anxious, and he’s not sure how to help.

“Oh okay. I like the tower.” Peter’s words are slurred together and Tony can barely understand what he’s saying.

“Yeah kid. We like the tower.” Tony tells FRIDAY to call for Bruce, and within minutes the man is hurrying into the room.

“What happened?” Bruce asks, already pestering over Peter.

“I think someone drugged him. FRIDAY thinks it’s LSD. Kid is delusional.” Tony explains, moving away to let Bruce work.

“Peter? Can you hear me?” Peter winces at the volume of Bruce’s voice, but nonetheless he nods.

“Alright. Peter, I’m gonna take some of your blood, you won’t even feel it. Is that okay?” Bruce asks, resting a grounding hand on Peter’s arm.

Peter nods again, staring intently at Bruce’s hand on his arm.

“Where’d Mr. Stark go?” Peter whines, sitting up a bit, only to slip back down.

“I’m right here, Pete. I’m not going anywhere.” Tony assures him, patting Peter’s hair.

“Oh good. You’re great, Mr. Stark.” Peter whispers, weakly punching Tony in the shoulder.

“You’re great too, kid.” Tony says, a warm smile on his face.

Bruce hurries off to his lab, and Tony stay next to the couch where Peter has fallen asleep.

Moments later he returns, giving Tony a nod and a smile.

“Just LSD. He’ll be fine by morning.” Bruce promises, patting Tony’s shoulder before going back downstairs.

Tony sighs, running a hand down his face. “Jesus Christ, kid.”

Tony was sure this boy would give him a heart attack one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not too proud of this one, but hopefully you liked it more than I did.


	4. Human Shield

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A man breaks into the tower looking for iron man. But instead he finds Tony’s intern, Peter Parker.

This was starting to become a pattern. Peter pooping into the lab at impromptu times, usually wounded in some way. But this time was different.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter called, and he sounded nervous but Tony didn’t notice at first. He was too busy working on the pile of scrap on his desk, which Peter assumed was some new project.

“Kid, hey. Just in time. I was about to call you. I’ve got a great idea!” Tony spoke quickly, excited.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter stressed. This time Tony detected the nervousness in his voice. He looked up, confused, before confusion turned to several things. Shock. Anger. Concern.

There was a stranger in the lab. But that’s not what concerned Tony. What concerned him was the knife that this man held to Peter’s throat. Peter had clearly just gotten out of bed. His hair was a bit messy, and he was wearing the tshirt and sweats he usually slept in.

Tony could only hope that this man thought Peter was just an intern. He took a single step closer, but the man was quick to stop him.

“Come any closer and I’ll slit his throat.” The man growls, pressing the blade closer to Peter’s skin. The kid winced, his head turning away from the knife.

“Alright. Everybody be cool. We can talk this out. Just let him go.” Tony is as calm as he can possibly be, holding his hands up in surrender.

“No way. I let him go, you kill me.” The man says, his grip tightening on Peter.

“Buddy, I’m killing you either way.” Tony assures him, and through his earpiece he hears FRIDAY asking if she should call for help.

“Not before I kill this little twerp. What do you think, Peter? Is he fast enough?” The man growls in Peter’s ear, and the kid flinches. 

“Peter, do not listen to him, just look at me.” Peter looks up, making eye contact with Tony. He looks nervous, and Tony doesn’t blame him.

“Why are you here? What did you come for?” Tony asks, hoping to direct the attention away from Peter.

“I came for you. I’m here to kill you.” The man tells him, and Tony has to hold in a sigh. Of course that’s why he’s here.

“I was on my way down here, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t have much of a plan. But then I spotted this brat wandering the halls, and suddenly the plan just seemed to make itself.” Peter is staring at Tony, and the avenger can’t help but feel the kid is trying to tell him something.

C’mon. I can take this guy.

Tony shook his head barely, but enough that Peter saw it. It would be way too dangerous. Peter was fast, but he had no way of knowing if he was fast enough to get out of reach before the man did as he promised and slit the kid’s throat.

“Alright fine. You want me? If you let him go, you can have me.” Tony was doing his best to reason with this man, but that was an arduous task.

The knife drifted slowly away from Peter’s throat, and he had his chance. Peter grabbed the man’s arm, flipping him over his own head and slamming him into the ground. The knife clattered to the floor and the man groaned in pain.

“Nice one, kid.” Tony praised, moving to check on Peter.

“FRIDAY, call the police and tell them there’s an attacker in the lab.” 

Tony pulled Peter closer to him to look him over. “Did he hurt you?” He asked, and the gentle worry in his tone made Peter smile.

“Just some bruises, I’m totally fine.” Peter assures him, gently swatting his hands away. 

“Let’s stay here and make sure this moron doesn’t wake up.” The two wait patiently for the police to arrive, twelve minutes later. That doesn’t provide hope for the justice system does it?

The police handcuffed the man and dragged him up the stairs, while two men stayed in the lab to question Tony and Peter.

“I was getting up to get breakfast, when that guy just attacked me! Said to take him to Mr. Stark.” Peter was playing the scared teenager role, keeping up the ‘I’m only human’ act.

Tony explains to the police how he got the guy knocked out without Peter getting hurt. The story was of course an entire lie, because it’s not like Tony could tell these cops that Peter Parker had flipped a man onto his back with one hand.

“Thank you.” The police said, before they went back upstairs and left.

“Now that is one way to wake yourself up in the morning.” Peter jokes, already moving to work on what Tony had called him down for. Tony himself had actually forgotten what he was working on.

“You gotta stop doing that kid.” Tony mumbled, mostly to himself, joining Peter at the workstation.

“Stop doing what?” Peter asked innocently.

“Almost dying! I’m gonna have a heart attack!” The older man yelled, gently smacking the kid’s head. Peter only laughed.

“Mr. Stark, if you have a heart attack, it won’t be because of me.” Peter says, chuckling to himself.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Peter is still laughing, and Tony wants to press further, but he decides to drop it. Clearly the kid had some kind of inside joke with himself.

“Whatever. Just get back to work, squirt.” Tony says, shoving a mile a scrap metal over to Peter’s side of the desk. Peter smiles.

“Yes sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I’m not horribly proud of this one, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
> 
> That’s the first time I’ve ever said that.


	5. Gunpoint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peter are kidnapped by a man who needs their help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit lacking on the whump stuff, but this is part one of a two chapter story, and part two will have plenty of whump I promise. Please read the end notes.

Tony had to admit, this isn’t the first time he’s woken up somewhere new, confused and dizzy. And it probably won’t be the last time either. Back in his twenties this was basically his morning routine. But Tony knew what a hangover felt like, and this definitely wasn’t it.

No. This felt like drugs. But Tony never did drugs. Okay, fine, yes he did some recreational drugs in his twenties, but he likes to pretend that never happened. But this wasn’t marijuana. This was something much stronger.

Was he drugged? Yeah, that made sense. That would at least explain the course rope wrapped tightly around his wrists, pinning them together behind his back. Which he was just now noticing.

Finally paying attention to his surroundings, he noticed that there was also rope binding his ankles to the legs of the chair he was sitting in. Tony sighs, lifting his head to look around the room.

He was expecting to find an empty concrete room, maybe with some disturbing tools or something.

What he wasn’t expecting to find, was Peter Parker himself sat in a chair across from him. Peter was in a similar position to Tony, the only difference being that Peter was bound with what he could only assume was vibranium, instead of rope.

Tony feels a rock settle in the pit of his stomach. Clearly these people knew about Peter’s powers, that was never good. Tony’s mind was screaming danger danger danger at him, and he forced himself to stay calm and get his bearings.

“Peter. Kid, can you hear me?” Peter hums quietly in response, clearly still out of it. But that didn’t make sense.

Peter had a much faster metabolism than Tony, he knew that for sure. So how could Tony have woken up first. Unless of course they knew this and gave Peter a much higher dose. That was the only logical reason.

“Peter, I need you to wake up, okay?” Tony calls to him, watching as Peter weakly raises his head and squints at the light.

“Mr. Stark?” He asks, and Tony smiles even though the kid can’t see it.

“Yeah, kid. It’s me. Are you hurt?” Peter shakes his head lazily, and Tony is starting to get worried. Peter’s metabolism should’ve burned through this stuff already.

But he isn’t given much time to worry, because suddenly a man is moseying in, a grin on his face. Tony glares up at the man. 

“Good morning Stark. Mr. Parker. How are we today?” The man asks politely, smiling innocently.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries, shall we? Who are you? And what do you want?” Tony snaps bluntly, his anger festering.

“Well, I guess there’s no harm in telling you my name. It’s Jared. Jared Platt. As for what I want…” The man- Jared- let’s his sentence fall off at the end, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder and leaning in real close.

“I want your cooperation Tony. That’s all.” The man is smiling, and he’s close enough that Tony can tell he’s recently drank coffee.

“Cooperation in what?” Tony asked carefully, not taking his eyes off Jared.

“Well, that’s a long story. You see, I have a meeting with a very powerful, very dangerous old friend next Thursday. That’s 6 days from today. And my plan is to betray him and kill him. But the problem is, I’m not sure he can be killed.” Jared was monologuing now, and Tony found himself slumping in his chair, resigned to listen to this speech for the next 7 hours.

“So what I need from you is for you and Peter over here to find a way to kill him. And yes, I know all about Peter and his powers. But Spider-Man isn’t who I’m interested in. I want Peter because I know he’s just as smart as you. So maybe he’ll be helpful. Using him as leverage is simply a bonus.” Jared backs away from Tony, moving to stand next to Peter, who has fallen back asleep. 

He pulls a gun from his hip, immediately pointing it at Peter’s head.

“Hey! Don’t you dare touch him.” Tony growls, fighting the ropes.

“Are you going to help me? Or do I have to kill this kid?” Jared asks, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Yes! Okay, yes! I’ll help you. Just don’t hurt him.” Tony yells, and Jared smiles and lowers his gun. 

“Good. Now I’m gonna untie you two, and I’ll send in my scientist friend so he can explain Andrew’s powers, and then you two get to work.” Jared moves to untie Tony, and as soon as he’s free he rushes to Peter. Jared releases the vibranium cuffs holding Peter’s wrists, and the kid slumps forward into Tony’s arms. Tony catches him, and he moves him onto the floor.

It's hours before Peter wakes up. And when he does he's extremely groggy and confused.

”Peter! Kid, hey. How do you feel?” Tony asks helping Peter sit up.

“Like I got hit by a bus. What happened? Where are we?” Peter glances around the room nervously, before his gaze settles on Tony.

“Some guy named Jared wants us to figure out how to kill his old friend. Apparently this guy is one tough cookie to take down, and he expects us to figure it out.” Now that he’s repeating the story, Tony realizes how ridiculous this situation is. 

“Can we? Figure it out, I mean.” Peter seems genuine, and Tony has to really think about that one.

“I’m not sure yet. Jared’s friend is coming to explain more about this Andrew guy, and I guess that’s when we’ll find out.” Tony answers honestly.

Another two hours later, and a short man in a lab coat enters their room.

“Greetings gentlemen. My name is Boyd, I’m here to explain to you Andrew’s history, in order to help you kill him.” Boyd seems nervous, and Tony doesn’t blame him. He’s currently locked in a room with Spider-Man and Iron Man, and he looks weaponless.

“Before you think about attacking me, there are several guns in the walls of this room, and they are programmed to shoot Mr. Parker, if any harm comes to me or Jared.” Well there goes that plan.

“Andrew is a very talented young man. He has an IQ of over 175, and he has the gift of controlling electricity. Which isn’t even to mention his teleporting and regeneration abilities. Have you two heard of Deadpool?” Boyd asks, and Tony and Peter make eye contact, before looking back at Boyd.

“We’ve heard rumors.” Tony admits, wondering if this guy is trying to tell him that Deadpool is real.

“Then you’ll have heard of his remarkable regeneration abilities. How he can come back to life as long as only one single cell of his body remains intact. We believe his stem cells are highly advanced, beyond anything anyone has ever seen. If we could only shut them down, maybe that would stop his body from repairing itself.” Boyd continues, glancing down at the chart in his hands.

“Andrew is very similar. Our only idea so far was acid, but he seemed to bounce back from that in less than 48 hours. We need you two, to come up with a better plan. One that will destroy him for good.” Boyd finally finished, giving Tony and Peter a smile, before scurrying back out of the room. 

“Well if his stem cells immediately replace any damaged or missing cells of any type, then how on earth are we supposed to kill this guy?” Tony asks, genuinely confused.

“I’d suggest just chopping his head off, but if his stem cells really are that advanced, it’s highly possible that his head would grow back on one body and his body would grow out of the head and suddenly there’d be two of him. Of course one of them would have no memories because you can’t regrow memories so he’d have to take a minute to relearn how to walk, and that can be a real pickle, not to mention that he wouldn’t even know his own name, or how to speak, or what earth is, or even how to breathe, but I’m assuming he can’t suffocate to death, although that is a possibility we should look into-”

“Kid!”

Peter had started rambling. Spouting out any information he could think of that related to this topic.

“What?” Peter asked, looking up at Tony in shock.

“I know all of that. We need to think of something we don’t already know.”

The two mulled it over for hours. Hours turned into days, and suddenly it was Wednesday.

They were given food and water, and bathroom breaks four times a day, but for the most part they stayed in their little room, sometimes actually forgetting the machine guns planted in the wall singling in on Peter’s head at all times. 

They’d made little to no progress, and Tony was getting very stressed out. Peter just seemed frustrated. Like he expected himself to have solved this already. 

“TBI!!” Peter suddenly shouts, turning to Tony with exhausted excitement.

“I’m sorry?” Tony asks, his eyes wide with shock.

“TBI! Today body irradiation. It’s been used for years to kill diseases like Leukemia. In Leukemia, the patient produces the wrong kind of blood cells. Those bad blood cells are created by stem cells in the person’s bone marrow!” Peter is rambling again.

“To treat Leukemia, one option is to get rid of all the stem cells in the bone marrow so that there are no cells left to produce the bad blood cells. Doctors do this by exposing the patient to high enough radiation to literally kill off all the stem cells. Now of course we’re not trying to cure Andrew of Leukemia, but the principle is the same. If we wipe out Andrew’s stem cells, we wipe out his healing ability!” Peter shouts, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. 

“Peter Parker! You’re a GENIUS!! That could actually work!” Tony praises the kid, pulling him into a hug.

“Now of course we’d need a lot of radiation, and I mean a LOT, because if Andrew regenerates as fast as they say he does, the lethal dose for humans might not be the same for him. I’m talking at least 30 gray. Because we need him to experience the symptoms immediately. But how on earth do we produce 30 gray of radiation? Hospital radiation machines go up to 6-8 at most.” Peter keeps talking, and Tony keeps listening because the kid is really on to something. 

“Now the radiation won’t kill him horribly fast, but if we’re really talking 30 gray here, his stem cells should be gone within three minutes, and then we can kill him however we want and he should, theoretically, stay dead.” Peter finishes his rant, seeming pretty proud of himself. And you know what? Tony was too.

“Jared! Hey! We figured it out!” Tony shouts, knocking on the door.

It’s only about one minute before Jared and Boyd both enter, seeming excited as well.

“Well? Explain.”

“Well, as you may know, when it comes to day to day humans going on planes and getting X-rays and exposing ourselves to the sun, we only experience .0024 gray of radiation a year! So to really do damage we’d have to find a way to expose Andrew to over 30 gray. After a few minutes you should be able to kill him without him regenerating. I could explain the science but I’m sure Boyd already understands.” Peter tells them, still smiling.

“My goodness. He’s right. Total body irradiation could destroy all of Andrew’s stem cells which means he can’t regenerate anymore. That’s genius.” Boyd looks absolutely thrilled, and Jared seems to trust him, because he too smiles.

“You’re sure this will work?” Jared asks Boyd, glancing between Peter and Tony.

“I’m absolutely sure.” Boyd tells him.

“Guess that means I don’t need you two anymore.” Jared says, pulling out his gun and pointing it right at Peter.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PROMPT 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is three times as long as the others and took me two hours to write and six hours of research and 37 minutes of crying so I really hope you liked it. This will be continued in the next prompt.


	6. Dragged Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one features Cap, Natasha, and Bruce! Only for a short time but it’s still nice.

“Woah woah, hey! We did exactly as you asked! You said you’d let us go!” Tony yelled, moving to stand in front of Peter.

“Take another step and I’ll put a bullet in the kid’s brain.” Jared warned, his lip curling up in a smirk.

Tony froze, his hands going up in a sign of surrender. “Jared, you don’t have to do this. Just let us go.”

Boyd seemed shocked by Jared’s sudden outburst.

“Jared, maybe we should just let them go.” Boyd said, placing a hand on Jared’s shoulder.

“No. Are you serious? This is Tony Stark! He’ll hunt us down as soon as he’s free. No, we kill them now to save our own asses.” Jared insisted, cocking the gun.

“If you let us go I will not go after you. But if you shoot my kid you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.” Tony growls, every instinct he has screaming for him to protect Peter.

Peter is being oddly quiet, and with a glance over at him Tony assumes Peter has decided it’s best for him to stay quiet.

“Oh really? Prove it.” Jared is testing him, and Tony doesn’t have time to respond because suddenly a loud bang is echoing throughout the room and Peter is screaming and falling to the floor.

“Peter!”

“Jared, are you insane?!”

Tony drops to his knees next to Peter, looking him over for the bullet wound. He finally finds it buried in Peter’s left thigh. It was hard to miss. Peter had his hands pressed to the wound, blood oozing between his fingers.

“I’m fine. It’s fine.” Peter assures him, his face pulled into a wince.

“You. Step away from the kid. Go sit down.” Jared orders, now pointing his gun at Tony.

“You just shot him! I’m not walking away from him right now.” Tony insists, his worry increasing as Peter lays on his back and groans weakly.

“I said sit down.” Tony huffs a frustrated breath out through his nose, but he complies, moving to sit in the metal chair that’s been there from day one.

Jared makes his way over to Peter, grabbing the kid’s hair and dragging him across the ground towards the door.

“Let me go!” Peter cries, pushing and pulling at Jared’s hands.

“Hey! Where are you taking him?” Tony shouts, forcing himself to stay seated.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take real good care of him.” Jared smiles, dragging Peter out of the room.

The door slams behind them, and Tony jumps out of his seat and starts pacing. He can feel rage boiling in his stomach and it’s making his hands shake. But he has to stay calm. He can’t help Peter if he’s steaming like a tea kettle.

He waits. He waits for hours. He doesn’t hear or see anything new until nightfall, when the door is shoved open.

Jared struts in confidently, smug. He’s dragging Peter behind him, but the kid is unconscious.

“Peter!” Tony shouts, rushing over as soon as Jared deposits Peter on the floor.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Tony demands, giving the kid a once over. Peter’s nose is bleeding, along with his split lip. There’s a large purple bruise developing underneath his left eye, along with an assortment of bruises across his jaw and neck.

That isn’t even to mention the blood soaking his left pant leg from the bullet wound, and the several patches of blood across his torso and stomach. 

“He’ll be fine.” Jared says, walking out without another word.

“What happened, kid?” Tony asks, pressing his hands down over Peter’s bullet wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Peter moans in response, grabbing Tony’s wrist in his hand.

“I attacked him. Guess that pissed him off.” Blood is soaking Tony’s hands and loosening his grip.

“And why the hell did you do that?” Tony asks, not actually mad. He just wanted to keep Peter talking.

“I saw an opportunity and I took it. Here. This should help with the bleeding.” Peter says, grabbing the rope on the floor by Tony’s chair. Tony grabs it, tying it tightly around Peter’s thigh, just above the bullet wound.

Peter cries out and presses the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Pete.”

“Not your fault.” Peter mutters.

Tony gets to work taking care of the rest of Peter’s wounds the best he can, before helping Peter sit up.

“You feeling any-” Tony doesn’t get a chance to finish that sentence because out of nowhere the east wall of their room is blown open.

Chunks of concrete fly throughout the room, but that doesn’t seem to bother the star spangled super soldier that’s just busted the wall down.

“Tony! Peter! Are you two okay?” Steve asks, hurrying to their sides while Natasha storms straight past him to find Jared.

“Pete’s a little worse for wear but we’ll be okay.” Steve sighs, relieved. By now Natasha has blasted open the cell door and Tony gave it thirty seconds before Jared dropped like a bag of sand.

“She was worried.” Steve explains, noticing Tony’s gaze following after the black widow.

“Oh? Well, I’m flattered.” Tony chuckles.

“Not about you, Stark. The kid.” Steve is laughing, and Peter looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“She was worried about me?” Peter seems genuinely shocked by this news, and Tony starts laughing.

“Don’t tell her I said that, or she’ll decapitate me.” Steve joins Tony’s subdued laughter, and finally Natasha returns dragging a half unconscious Jared behind her.

She drops him on the floor harshly, making her way over to Peter while Steve handles Jared. Natasha crouches in front of the wounded teenager, placing her hands on his cheeks.

“Are you alright, маленький паук?” She asks, and her touch is so gentle that Peter feels himself melt into it.

“I’m okay, Natasha.” Peter assures her, letting her help him stand up.

Tony watches Steve haul the unconscious Jared over his shoulder and walk him out to the plane. Tony and Natasha walk the limping kid after them, and when they arrive on the plane she gets Peter to sit down so Bruce can take care of his wounds properly.

“Hey Dr. Banner. I didn’t know you were here.” Peter says, smiling at Bruce.

“It wasn’t a code green. I’m only here as a doctor.” Bruce smiles back, and Natasha stands by the cockpit entrance, not taking her eyes off Peter.

“Hey.” Tony says, walking up behind Steve.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Steve asks, turning to look at Tony.

“I just wanted to thank you. For coming for us.” Steve is shocked by that. Tony never thanks people.

“Of course, Tony. Despite our past... disagreements, I’m still your friend. And we care about Peter too.” Steve says, patting Tony’s shoulder as he moves to talk to Natasha.

Tony sits himself down next to Peter.

“You’ll be just fine in a couple days, Peter.” Bruce assures the both of them.

“Nope. I’m calling it now, he’s a lost cause. I think he’s flatlining.” Tony jokes, pressing two fingers to Peter’s throat to feel his pulse.

Peter smacks his hand away, a warm smile on his face, and it’s an image Tony refuses to let go off.


	7. Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I took an odd take on this one. But I’ve literally never been more proud of a one shot before, and it took almost three hours to write, so I really hope you like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of motherly Natasha in this one, because I’m a sucker for that shit.

Day 1

Peter is woken up in the middle of the night by his stomach turning and twisting painfully. He barely has time to run to the trash can before he can feel bile burning his throat and he’s coughing harshly.

He groans, falling on his back on the floor and running his hands over his face.

Just his luck. Getting sick the day after an alien invasion. The Avengers had handled it well enough, all of the aliens being either dead or captured by SHIELD. But Peter was exhausted and he could only imagine the other Avengers were as well.

He did his best to fall back asleep, but his stomach had other ideas. Peter was woken up throughout the night by debilitating stomach pains and nausea.

Finally the sun broke through the window, and Tony arrived soon after.

“Wakey wakey, kid. Time for breakfast.” Peter doesn’t respond, he just covers his eyes with his blanket.

“What’s wrong, Peter?” Tony asks, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Sick.” Is all Peter says.

“Headache?” Peter shakes his head, pointing to the trash can.

“Stomach.” Tony nods in understanding.

“Why don’t you go grab something to eat and I’ll clean up in here? Sound good?” Peter climbs out of bed with an exhausted sigh, slumping to the kitchen like a hunchback.

Tony sighs as well, walking over to the trash can. He was expecting to find chunky bile, but instead he found dark green goo.

He freezes, his brain taking several seconds to process, before he’s on his feet and sprinting out of the room.

He runs in as Steve is about to pat Peter’s shoulder. Tony rushes to them, shoving Steve away from Peter. 

“Don’t touch him!” Tony screams, standing between the two of them.

“Tony, what the hell?” Natasha asks, standing up from her spot on the couch. Steve and Peter are staring at him in shock. 

“Bruce! We have a problem.” Tony says, gesturing to Peter.

“What is it?” Bruce asks, walking over to Tony and Peter.

“Guqruid.” Tony whispers, fear in his eyes. Bruce’s eyes widen comically.

“But that’s impossible. We haven’t seen it in over 10 years.” Bruce insists.

“Banner, I’m telling you. The kid’s got it.” Peter startled like he’s been electrocuted.

“I’m sorry? I’ve got what?” He seems terrified by the panic in Tony’s voice.

“Nobody touch him. Everybody needs to leave right now.” Bruce demands, gently ushering Steve towards the door.

“We’re not going anywhere!” Natasha yells, swatting Tony’s hand off her shoulder.

“Listen to me. Peter is very sick, and he’s very, very contagious. You need to leave.” Steve can see that Tony is being serious, so he grabs Natasha’s wrist and pulls her out of the room.

“Dr. Banner? What do you mean, I’m very sick?” Peter seems so scared, and it makes Tony’s heart hurt.

“Peter, listen to me. This is extremely important. Yesterday, during the invasion. Did any of the aliens blood get in your mouth or nose?” Bruce asks, trying to be gentle but also urgent.

“I mean yeah, just once. And it was gross. Why? What’s wrong with me?” Peter asks, backing away from Tony and Bruce.

“Peter, Bruce and I think you have something called Guqruid. It’s an alien sickness, passed into humans by blood contact. But once in humans it’s extremely contagious.” Tony explains, and he desperately wants to put his hand on the kid’s shoulder, but him getting sick too wouldn’t help anything.

“Peter, I don’t want to scare you, but I need you to come with me to the lab immediately.” Bruce insists, gesturing for the kid to follow him.

Peter’s eyes are wide like saucers, but nonetheless he listens. When they make it to the lab, Bruce has Peter walk into a large glass chamber, about the size of his bedroom.

The room is full of assorted items and furniture. There’s a bed, a cushioned chair, even a bookshelf and a desk. 

“Don’t worry, you’re gonna be fine. It’s only a quarantine.” Tony is doing his best to keep Peter calm but the kid looks like he’s about to burst.

“Will you please explain to me what the hell is going on?” Peter shouts, his arms wrapped around his stomach.

“It’s called Guqruid. It progresses in stages. The first stage is vomiting. We’re not one hundred percent sure what the rest of the stages are, but only stage seven is actually dangerous.” Bruce is rambling now, already typing.

“What do you mean ‘dangerous’? Am I dying?” Peter asks, and Tony’s heart breaks.

“Don’t worry kid. We’re gonna fix it before it gets that far.” Tony assures him.

Natasha enters the lab, followed by Steve.

“What’s wrong with my маленький паук?” Nat asks, hurrying over to the glass chamber to look at Peter.

“It’s an alien disease, we’re pretty sure it’s of Chitauri origin. They carry it in their blood like rabies in a raccoon and they pass it on to foreign creatures. We’ve seen it once before ten years ago.” Bruce explains, not even looking up from his computer.

“Can you cure it?” Steve asks, warily watching the kid, who looks about ready to pass out.

“I can try. But I’ll need the blood of the aliens that infected him. Which means calling Fury.” Bruce says, and Steve is already on top of it, leaving to make the call.

“It might take me a few days, but I promise I won’t let you reach stage six.” Bruce is genuine, and Tony knows that Bruce is as worried as he is.

“Okay. If you’re sure.” Peter says, sitting down on the bed.

The next six or seven hours are rough. Steve is arguing animatedly with Fury over getting a sample of the aliens blood, Peter just wont stop vomiting and coughing, and Natasha refuses to leave the lab, no matter how many times Tony reminds her how dangerous it is to be there.

To be fair, Tony too refuses to leave.

Day 2

Peter wakes up feeling cold. He pulls the blanket on the bed up to his chin and curls his knees to his chest, but he doesn’t feel any warmer.

Frustrated, he gets up to walk around a little. He finds Natasha sitting in a chair on the other side of the glass, a kind smile on her face.

“Do you feel any better?” She asks, standing up to walk closer to the glass.

Peter shrugs, rubbing his sleeve over his forehead. He feels like he’s been dropped in the ocean. He’s absolutely soaking wet.

“I’m really sweaty but I feel like it’s thirty degrees in here.” He tells her, using a towel to rub his neck and shoulders.

“I’ll go get Bruce. I’ll be right back.” She promises, and Peter’s feels his heart warmed by how clingy she gets when he’s hurt.

She returns with Bruce two minutes later, and the older man sighs.

“You’ve progressed to stage two. This one is probably the easiest. Cold sweats, pale skin, maybe a headache, but you should be okay for now.” Bruce opens a small window in the glass, handing Peter some Advil and another towel, making sure not to touch him.

Peter gratefully accepts the pills, seeing as he can feel a headache building in the middle of his skull. That’s when Tony comes in.

“Shoo, widow. It’s my turn to watch the kid.” Tony quips, falling back into the only chair in the room.

Natasha only glares at him. “I’m not leaving.” She says.

“Natasha, go. I’ll be fine. You need sleep.” Peter assures her, a smile on his face.

She sighs, but nonetheless she relents.

“I’ll be back by morning.” She warns Tony, gently smacking his shoulder.

“How you feeling, kid?” Tony asks, eyeing Peter worriedly.

“Pretty okay. Dr. Banner says this is the easiest stage, so I’m counting my blessings. I would love if someone could bring me my homework though. If I get too behind in school, Ned will kill me.” Peter tells him, plopping down on the bed.

“Don’t worry, I already called the school and told them you have swine flu and can barely stand. They’ve exempted you from all assignments until you bounce back.” Tony seems proud of himself and Peter sighs in relief. At least he had cover for all the classes he’d be missing.

The rest of the day passed by slowly. Tony worked on some repairs in the lab while Peter helped as much as he could from his room. 

For the most part he just felt like he had a cold. The headache came and wet, but the cold sweats stuck with him the whole day long.

Day 3

Today was harder. Before Peter was even fully awake he was hacking violently. He felt like he was drowning. Something was stuck in his throat and he couldn’t get it out. Peter found himself on his hands and knees on the floor coughing harshly, and he covered his mouth with his hand.

“Peter?” Tony called, rushing towards the glass. Peter ignored him, focusing on the fact that he could feel his lungs being squeezed like a fist.

He pulled his hand away, finding a dark red liquid coating his fingers. He panicked, sitting up and showing his hand to Tony. The older man’s eyes widen, and he rushes out of the room, probably to find Bruce. 

Bruce hurries in, watching Peter continue to cough frantically.

“Stage 3. He’ll be like this the rest of the day.” Bruce tells Tony, a frown on his face.

“How can we help?” Tony asks, cringing at the wheeze in Peter’s breaths.

“Get me a humidifier, and a lot of water. We need to keep him hydrated.” Bruce orders, already pulling on gloves. Tony does as he’s told, returning with a blue humidifier and a 5 gallon jug of water.

“Peter? Can you hear me?” Peter nods tiredly, walking over to the door.

Bruce opens it quickly, setting the humidifier and the water inside, before shutting it again. 

Peter sets up the humidifier, sitting in front of it to breathe in the steam.

Steve joins them around 2:30.

“How is he?” The Captain asks, moving to stand near where Tony and Bruce are working.

“The poor kid can barely breathe. He’s been coughing up blood all day.” Tony tells him, not looking up.

Tony had Bruce had been working themselves to the bone trying to synthesize a cure from the blood of the alien. They were making progress, but they weren’t close enough yet and Tony was getting anxious.

“Go get some rest Tony. I can work on this. It’s Steve’s turn to keep the kid company.” Bruce says, practically shoving Tony out the door. 

Steve sits down in front of the glass chamber. By now Bruce had given Peter an oxygen mask, but it wasn’t helping much.

“Hey, Peter. Can I get you anything? Some food maybe? Been a while since you ate.” Peter smiles for the first time all day.

“I’d love some goldfish. I keep a box of them in my nightstand.” Steve smiles too, hurrying off to Peter’s room.

He returns moments later with the box, and Peter grins.

“Thanks!” He shouts, taking the box from Steve through the little window.

He pulls off his oxygen mask so he can eat, and Steve is surprised the kid is so upbeat considering the situation. But he’s happy nonetheless. 

“Hey Peter. Did I ever tell you about the time that Bucky and I took down an entire nazi regime back in World War II?” Steve asks, and Peter turns to face Steve, giving the ancient soldier his full attention.

“No, but I’d love to hear about it. I learned a bit about you in history class, but I’m really interested to hear your version.” Steve smiles at Peter’s enthusiasm.

He’s glad he was able to find something to distract Peter for a few hours. The kid listens intently, and though he won’t admit it, Steve is glad to have someone to tell this story to again.

Night comes quickly, and Peter goes back to bed with his oxygen mask back on, while Steve watches over him.

Day 4

Steve is woken up by a loud thud. He jolts up, immediately checking on Peter.

The kid is laying on the floor with his palms pressed to his eyes.

“Peter? Are you okay?” Steve asks, wishing he could actually go in and help.

“Yeah. I just got really dizzy. No worries.” Peter tells him, slowly climbing back into bed.

“I’ll get Bruce.”

Steve returns with Dr. Banner in less than a minute, and Bruce sighs.

“Stage 4. Severe dizziness and exhaustion. This is another easy one. Just try not to stand up too much Peter.” Peter nods, and Bruce is sure he wasn’t planning on getting up anytime soon.

“Steve, go grab Natasha. It’s her turn.” Steve listens, hurrying back up the stairs.

Natasha arrives soon after, and she makes her way over to Peter.

“Good morning, маленький паук.” She says, sitting down in the chair by the glass wall.

“Hey Natasha.” Peter moans, and as he stares at the ceiling he can see it spinning in circles. Not to mention he feels like someone had drained him of all the energy in his body.

Per Peter’s request, Natasha takes him through lesson 13 in his physics textbook, and Peter manages to keep up. But pretty quickly he falls asleep, and Natasha decides it’s best to let him rest.

Bruce continues to work in the background, groaning in frustration sometimes, but mostly being very quiet. Natasha stands up and moves to join him at his desk.

“Making any progress?” She asks, staring at the notes he’s scrawling out on the desk.

“A little bit, yeah. Not fast enough though.” Bruce says, crumpling up a ball of paper and tossing it over his shoulder.

“You’ll figure this out. Try not to stress.” She reminds him, sitting back down.

The rest of the day goes by quickly for Peter. He naps for almost four hours, and when he wakes up he feels so exhausted he can barely sit up. He manages to walk over to his water jug, before sitting on the floor, unable to stay standing.

By the time the sun goes down Peter has already fallen back asleep.

Day 5

Peter wakes up, but at first he’s not sure he’s even awake because is vision is completely blurry, to the point where he can barely see.

He panics at first, sitting up quickly in bed.

“Peter?” Natasha asks, and Peter can hear the concern in her voice.

“Get Bruce. I can’t see.” Peter whines, and Natasha sprints out of the room.

Bruce comes rushing in, coming right up to the little window.

“Come over to the window, Peter. I have to look at your eyes.” Bruce says, opening the hatch.

Peter stumbles over to the window, holding his face up to the hole. He can see well enough to know that Bruce is shining a penlight in his eyes.

“Okay. You’re fine. It’s only stage five. Your vision should be restored by morning.” Bruce assures him, and Natasha returns with Tony.

“Peter, are you okay?” The kid has already blindly made his way back over to his bed, and he sits down so that he’s leaning against the glass wall.

“I’m fine. Just can barely see.” Peter tells him, rubbing his eyes.

“Peter, don’t do that. You’ll agitate your eyes.” Bruce warns him.

Peter sighs, letting his hands fall into his lap.

“Can somebody please talk about something interesting?” Peter begs, leaning his head against the glass wall.

“Did I ever tell you about Budapest?” Natasha asks, pulling the chair closer to where Peter was sitting.

That gets his attention.

“You never told anyone about Budapest.” He says, turning to face her.

“I can only tell you if Tony leaves. These are trade secrets.” Tony huffs a laugh, before heading back upstairs, while Bruce pretends not to listen. He had to admit he was damn curious.

Natasha and Clint were always very suspiciously secretive about Budapest.

She gets into it, and Peter listens intently. He’s genuinely fascinated by the story, and he almost completely forgets that he can’t even see Natashams face, because he’s too busy picturing the story in his head.

It’s hours before she finishes, and Peter is smiling like a child and Natasha pats herself on the back for distracting him so well.

Day 6

Peter once again wakes up sweating buckets. Except this time he definitely feels hot. At least his vision has returned to normal. That eases some of the stress.

He looks around the lab to find that Bruce is already there, working vigorously.

“Bruce? Do you have a thermometer?” Peter asks, and Bruce’s head snaps up.

“Do you feel feverish?” He asks, and Peter nods weakly. His head was pounding.

Bruce hands Peter a thermometer through the window, and Peter places it under his tongue. He completely zoned out while he waits, and the sudden beep makes him jump.

“102.3. I’ve had worse.” Peter says, setting the thermometer down on the nightstand. Now that he’s touched it, no one else can or they could get sick.

“It will only get higher. This is stage six.” Bruce mutters, going back to work.

Tony joins them, seeming worried already.

“You look glum. I haven’t even told you what’s wrong yet.” Peter says, grabbing some water.

“I know what’s wrong, Peter. Bruce and I have seen this before. Stage six is the only one we remember.” Tony is talking quietly too, and Peter feels anxiety bubbling in his chest. Why were they so worried?

Bruce had said that stage six was the dangerous one. Was Peter gonna die today? Peter didn’t realize he wasn’t breathing until he heard Tony yelling at him.

“Peter! Breathe, kid.” He says, knocking on the glass to get Peter’s attention. 

His brain finally gets the message to breathe, except it’s like the Midtown High office printers that only print after you’ve pressed the “print” button too many times out of frustration and then twenty copies of the paper print all at once, and suddenly Peter is hyperventilating.

“Peter! Hey! Look at me. Just breathe. Bruce is almost done with the cure, you’re gonna be just fine, I promise. Just breathe!” Tony shouts, and Peter feels his body slowly relaxing.

“There you go, bud. Just breathe. It’s okay.” Tony is speaking in a gentle tone that Peter has never heard before. It’s nice.

Hour by hour Peter’s fever only increases, and by dinner time he’s at 106.7. Tony is horrifically stressed out, pacing back and forth for hours on end. Natasha is keeping Peter company, telling him more of her mission stories, and Steve is doing his best to keep Tony calm while Bruce works diligently. 

At exactly 8:42 pm, Peter collapses.

“Bruce!” Natasha shouts, and every fiber of her being is screaming for her to run to Peter’s side, but she knows that she can’t do that.

“I got it! It’s done!” Bruce shouts, hastily pulling on thick gloves and sprinting into the glass chamber.

“Everybody stay as far away from the door as you can.” He orders, before quickly injecting Peter with what he hoped was a viable cure.

They wait for over two minutes, and just as Bruce is about to admit defeat, Peter jolts upright, coughing violently.

“Peter! It’s okay, just breathe. You’re gonna be okay now. I promise.” Bruce reassures the kid, grabbing his shoulders to steady him. He helps Peter stand up, leading him out of the chamber and closing the door behind him. Everything in that room was completely contaminated, as was Peter’s bedroom, and Bruce would have to call a SHIELD crew to come and sterilize everything.

“It’s okay. You can touch him now.” Tony is the first to pull Peter into a hug. He melts into it, not realizing until now how completely and utterly exhausted he is. Natasha is next, resting her hand in Peter’s hair and squeezing him tight.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, маленький паук.” She says, rubbing his back.

Steve is last, almost crushing the poor kid with his super strength.

“Ow, Captain. Can’t breathe.”

“Oh, sorry. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Steve?” Steve jokes, patting Peter on the shoulder.

“Good to have you back, underoos.” Tony is smiling ear to ear, and Peter joins him as they head upstairs.

“A SHIELD team will come by in a few hours to sterilize everything. Until then, stay out of your bedroom and the lab.” Bruce tells them, relaxing into the couch with a heavy sigh.

Peter copies him, placing his feet up on the coffee table. Despite all the excitement of the day, Peter is asleep within thirty seconds of sitting down.

Natasha smiles, sitting next to the kid and playing with his hair gently.

If anyone asked she would deny having been worried in the first place, but she was glad they could finally relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is the longest so far, but I’m super proud of it! Comments are greatly appreciated and severely motivating!!


	8. Stab Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets stabbed.

Peter had never felt pain like this before.

He felt his hands fly to his stomach, and suddenly they were wet. He was bleeding. Of course he was bleeding, that was obvious.

But he also felt something hard sticking out of his stomach. Peter looked down and found the handle of a blade penetrating his abdomen.

The shock overwhelmed the pain, and Peter started to feel dizzy. The man he’d been fighting took off like a spooked deer, and Peter slid down the wall with a harsh groan.

“Peter? Should I call Mr. Stark?” Karen asks, but Peter can barely hear through because his ears are ringing.

She takes his silence as an answer.

“Mr. Stark is en route to your location Peter. Try to stay awake.” The AI sounds upset, but Peter isn’t sure that that’s even possible.

He waits in painful silence, trying his best to stop the bleeding. But it just won’t stop coming.

Tony arrives within minutes, blasting through the sky like a rocket, landing a few feet from Peter.

“Kid!” Tony shouts, evacuating his suit and rushing to Peter’s side.

“What the hell happened?” Tony asks incredulously.

“He had a knife. I don’t know why, but I didn’t see it coming.” Peter can hear FRIDAY alerting Tony of his condition, and he sighs in relief. FRIDAY will know what to do.

“Boss, I highly recommend you remove the blade from Peter’s stomach. If it remains in its position, any movement from him could cause internal bleeding.” FRIDAY warns Tony, and the older man cringes as he grips the handle of the blade in one hand, his jacket in the other.

“Alright Pete, this is gonna hurt pretty bad, but just remember I’m trying to help, okay?” Tony asks, and Peter nods just before Tony quickly yanks the blade out of Peter’s flesh.

The young avenger yelps like a wounded dog, and within half a second Tony has balled up his jacket and is pressing it down over the wound.

Peter moans in pain, gripping Tony’s wrist tightly in his hand.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Tony mutters. “FRIDAY call Bruce. Tell him to get the med bay set up immediately.”

She does as she’s told, and Tony lifts the jacket to find that Peter is still bleeding profusely.

“FRI, can I move him?” Tony asks, nervously glancing back at the suit.

“I wouldn’t recommend it, Boss. If Peter moves too much he could further tear open his wound and cause his bleeding to increase. I suggest you have Agent Romanoff come pick him up in the quinjet.” FRIDAY says, and Peter thinks that she too sounds upset.

“Okay. Okay, I can do that. FRI call Nat.” Tony orders, and Peter can feel himself falling asleep.

“This better be important, Stark. I’m busy.” Natasha quips, and Peter perks up at the sound of her voice.

“Nat, it’s Peter.” Tony tells her, ignoring her sass.

“What? What’s wrong?” She asks, and Peter can hear the worry in her voice immediately.

“Kid’s been stabbed, FRI says not to move him. I need you to bring the quinjet out here with Bruce.” He says, pressing harder on Peter’s wound and causing him to cry out weakly. His face was going pale and there was blood coming out of his mouth.

“We’re already on our way.” Natasha says, and Tony can hear the plane approaching in the distance. Luckily they weren’t too far from the tower.

“Stay awake, Pete. Bruce is on his way. Just stay awake.” Tony says, patting Peter’s cheek with one hand.

Dust flies off in little tornadoes as the plane descends in the middle of the street. Before the ramp has even fully lowered, Natasha comes running out to meet them. Bruce is quick to follow, dragging a gurney behind him.

The doctor crouches next to Tony and Peter, pulling the jacket away to investigate the state of the wound, while Natasha struggles to keep Peter awake.

“Look at me, маленький паук.” She says, her hand on Peter’s cheek.

“It should be safe to move him, help me Tony.” The two men lift Peter onto the gurney, wheeling it back into the plane.

Bruce gets to work taking care of the wound, while Tony and Natasha comfort Peter.

“Hey, Underoos. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Tony assures him.

Bruce gets started on stitches, and Peter flinches, gripping Tony’s hand tightly. Natasha starts humming to him, and Tony has never seen her act this... well, human. Not even around Clint. It’s fascinating really.

By the time they land back at the tower, Steve is waiting in the entrance. Bruce and Tony get Peter to the med bay, and Natasha stays behind to explain the situation to Steve.

Bruce is able to stabilize Peter pretty quickly, and the kid spends the next 36 hours in the med bay. He wakes up the next morning, exhausted and in pain.

“What happened?” He asks, struggling to sit up.

“You got stabbed, that’s what.” Tony tells him, scooting his chair closer to the bed. “Don’t worry, Bruce took good care of it. You’re perfectly fine.” 

“This guy was trying to mug some lady, so I stopped it. But I didn’t see the knife, I don’t know why. My spidey sense just stopped working for a minute.” Peter explains, finally sitting up.

“Oh, you mean the Peter tingle?” Tony asks, a wry smile on his face. Peter groans, running his hands down his face.

“You hear that from Happy?” He asks, glaring at Tony.

“Maybe.”

The two laugh quietly, and Peter grins when Natasha joins them in his little room.

“Nice to see you awake, Peter. Tony was very worried.” Natasha smiles back at him, and Peter laughs.

“Oh I was worried? How about you, Widow? You were a wreck.” Tony retorts.

“I don’t worry about anyone.” Natasha insists, turning around and leaving.

Tony and Peter make eye contact, before the two burst into laughter, Peter holding a hand over his stomach as the laughing makes his wound hurt. 

“Stop making me laugh.” Peter orders Tony, struggling to stop himself from laughing. Tony only laughs louder in response.

“Sorry kid. Just thought I’d torture you a bit before I left.” Tony jokes, pushing himself out of his chair. “Get some more sleep.”

Peter sighs, cuddling back up in his blankets. Within five minutes he was back asleep.


	9. Shackled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets kidnapped again, and Tony and the others have to rescue him... again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went a little overboard with this one. Not in length, but in whump. I really tortured Peter in this one, but I’m not apologizing for it. (:

Tony gets the call at nearly three in the morning. The ringing wakes him from his peaceful sleep, the first one he’s had in months, and he groans dramatically, rolling onto his back to pick up the cellphone that was sitting on the nightstand.

“Hello?” He mumbles, not even checking caller ID.

“Is this the great Tony Stark?” The voice is unfamiliar, and Tony finds himself fully awake.

“That it is. Who am I speaking to?” Tony asks, finally checking caller ID. Unknown number. Suspicious.

“That is unimportant. What is important, is who I’ve got sitting next to me right now.” The man says, and there’s some shuffling over the speaker. Someone new speaks, and Tony’s face goes white.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter’s voice is weak and breaking, and Tony assumes he’s either scared, hurt, or drugged. Possibly all three.

“Pete? Talk to me, kid. What’s going on? Are you hurt?” Tony’s voice is gentle, but his body is going into panic mode as he climbs out of bed and runs out into the living room to find Steve and Natasha staying up late watching movies.

“Do you mind if I turn on my face cam, Tony?” The man doesn’t wait for a response, and suddenly Tony can see Peter and his captor.

The kid looks rough. He’s got blood trailing down his face from a bruised nose, dripping off his chin onto the concrete floor. There are small cuts and bruises lining the right side of his jaw and circling his neck, and Tony assumes the kid’s been strangled. That’s not even to mention the split lip and the large cut on his arm that’s still bleeding heavily.

Peter is sitting against a dirty concrete wall, his hands held above him by shackles made of a very shiny metal, and Tony’s brain goes right to vibranium.

“You let him go right now.” Tony growls, walking closer to Steve and Natasha, who turn instantly at the sound of Tony’s rage-filled concern.

“Tony? What’s wrong?” Steve asks, and the two move to see what he’s looking at on his phone.

Steve manages to remain calm, but Tony can feel Natasha tense with fury.

“Ah! Captain Rogers, and the Black Widow herself! So lovely of you to join us.” The man exclaims, seeming genuinely glad to see them.

Peter remains still in the background, his chin resting on his chest, seemingly unconscious.

“What do you want with him?” Tony asks, his patience being tested.

“What do I want with dear old Spider-Man here? Well I’m glad you asked. I want revenge.” The man is smiling, and the avengers can practically feel the arrogance radiating from him.

“You see, little Peter Parker busted open my drug ring last year. And it cost me everything. So I’m going to destroy him for it. But, as an added bonus, you get to watch every second of our journey together.” The feed shorts out for a few seconds, before the camera angle changes. It seems that they’re now seeing out of a surveillance camera up in the corner on the opposite wall that Peter was chained to.

They watch as the man waves at the camera.

“Names Jamison by the way!” He shouts, before he exits the room, slamming the door behind him.

Peter’s head jolts up, and Tony is glad to discover he was never unconscious, only feigning it to avoid Jamison attacking him. Peter stands up, and for the next two hours the feed plays nothing but Peter struggling against the metal chains without a break.

He walks as far from the wall as he can, bracing himself with a foot on the wall, and pulling with all his strength. They don’t even budge an inch.

Natasha gets to work on tracing the signal, and Steve starts making calls, but Tony refuses to take his eyes off of Peter.

After endlessly fighting against the chains for over two hours straight, Peter walks back over to wall and slumps to the floor, leaning his head back against the concrete.

The chains are short enough that when Peter lays on his back his hands remain raised up in the air, and Tony can see how frustrated the kid is. Who wouldn’t be frustrated? Peter’s used to being able to break everything he comes across. But the one time he really needs his strength, it’s ineffective.

Four more hours pass, and Natasha hasn’t made any progress. It seems that Jamison is bouncing the signal off of several different proxy servers and changing his IP address every 30 seconds, making it practically impossible to track him.

Steve calls several people, including Nick Fury himself, and SHIELD is no help. It seems that finding Peter is up to Tony, Steve, and Natasha.

Tony can easily say that the following week is the worst seven days of his entire life.

They watch as several times a day Peter gets the hell beaten out of him, Jamison avoiding the kid’s face for some reason that they don’t know, but Tony decides to count his blessings.

At one point the man slams Peter’s forearm over his knee, effectively snapping the bone in half, and Peter screams brutally.

Tony had nearly passed out at that moment, and Steve had to remind him how to breathe. Natasha just seemed pissed. Tony had never seen her this angry. It was actually slightly terrifying.

They’re forced to watch as Jamison beats, burns, tazes, and water boards the poor kid over the course of the week.

Peter gets progressively weaker, fighting Jamison less and less, and by the time day 8 rolls around he can barely hold his head up. He slumps against the wall, the chains being the only thing holding him upright.

Day 8 is also the day that Natasha finally cracks through Jamison’s computer tricks. She comes sprinting into the room and orders Tony and Steve to get on the jet, leaving no room for argument.

She explains the technical stuff on the way, seeing as it’s over a thirty minute flight. Jamison was holding Peter in a run down warehouse just outside of Boston, MA.

Before the plane has even landed Tony is flying out, blasting his way into the building. Steve and Natasha are quick to follow.

They arrive outside of Peter’s room, and Steve kicks in the door, finding Jamison messing with a computer on the other side of the room, while Peter remains unconscious.

Steve and Tony go after Jamison, and Natasha hurries over to Peter’s side.

“маленький паук.” She calls, gently lifting Peter’s head up.

His hair is soaking wet, dangling in front of his face, which is covered in bruises. There’s a noticeable wheeze in his breathing, and when she rests her hand on his chest she can already feel at least three broken ribs. His left arm hangs at his side, and she remembers the clip of Jamison snapping his bones.

“Tony!” She shouts, looking for more injuries.

“Update me.” Tony orders her, crouching next to Peter while Steve fights Jamison in the background.

“At least three broken ribs, a broken left arm, possible concussion, possible pneumonia and hypothermia, severe bruising, blood loss from this cut on his right arm, severe burns from the taser down here on his stomach, and even worse ones on his chest from what I assume was a lighter or a blowtorch. He needs to get to Bruce, now.” Tony can hear the rage and concern in her tone as she lists the injuries that she’s been able to find, and Tony turns to glare at Jamison.

The man is currently unconscious, Steve kicking him once in the side for good luck, before he hurried over to join them.

“Keys?” Tony asks, pointing back over at Jamison.

Steve digs them out of the unconscious man’s pockets, tossing them over to Tony. He reaches up and unlocks the vibranium shackles holding the kid’s wrists. Peter’s hands fall lifelessly into his lap.

Steve lifts Peter into his arms, carrying him bridal style out to the jet.

“He’s gonna kill me one day.” Tony sighs, running his hand through his hair.

Peter was safe now. But how many more times would they get this lucky? How many more times until Peter doesn’t make it home?

That’s a question that will plague Tony’s sleep for the next couple of weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked! I stayed up until 3:00 am for this one.


	10. Unconscious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has an iron deficiency

“Mr. Stark, I think You’re missing a wire in here.” Peter says, reaching across the desk to pull the Spider-Man suit towards himself.

Tony chuckles. The kid never misses anything.

“Pete, can you grab me that Phillips head from my desk?” Tony asks, pointing to a smaller desk across the lab. Peter nods, hopping down from the table he’d been sitting on.

Peter stumbles, resting his hand on the edge of the desk to stable himself.

“Kid?” Tony asks, turning to face Peter. 

The kid is on his feet for barely a whole second before his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps to the ground.

“Peter!” Tony shouts, rushing to where Peter Kay unconscious.

His first thought is to feel for a pulse. Peter’s heartbeat is erratic, much too quickly for Tony to find normal. The kid’s hands are freezing, even though it’s over 70 degrees in the lab.

“FRIDAY, get Bruce down here.” Tony orders the AI, and he feels Peter’s forehead. Luckily he doesn’t feel warm.

Bruce arrives nearly two minutes later, and Peter is starting to wake up.

“Ugh. What happened?” He asks, pressing his hand to his forehead.

“You passed out, kid. Why don’t you tell me?” Tony says, holding Peter’s shoulder to steady him.

“Peter? Does this happen often?” Bruce asks, shining a penlight in his eyes.

“Once or twice a week, I guess. But usually I don’t faint, I just get really dizzy.” Peter admits, wincing at the bright light.

Bruce smiles, relief on his face.

“Peter, this is nothing. I believe you simply have an iron deficiency.” Bruce says, nodding at Tony.

“Wait, really?” Peter asks, moving to stand up.

“Really. I recommend going to any local pharmacy and getting yourself a bottle of iron supplements. That should fix the issue.” Peter sighs, chuckling quietly.

“I thought I was dying.”

“And you didn’t tell me about it?” Tony asks, crossing his arms like a stern mother.

“Good point.” Peter mumbles, and the two of them get back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry this one is so short. I feel awful. I just really had no ideas for this one. But I promise the rest will be at least 1000 words or more.


	11. Stitches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peter go camping. Sounds fun right? Well it is fun until HYDRA soldiers are chasing you down and your kid steps in a bear trap.
> 
> READ NOTES

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you the next chapter would be longer! I’m not too proud of this one, but it’s okay.
> 
> Btw маленький паук means ‘little spider’ in Russian.

Peter had always wanted to go camping. The problem was, there wasn’t a lot of wooded areas in New York. He’d never planned on going camping in rural Oregon, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Another thing he never planned, was being lost in the woods with nothing but Tony Stark and a bear trap locked around his ankle. Luckily they did have a first aid kit.

But let’s rewind.

Tony thought taking the kid camping would be fun. He had some business to take care of in Oregon, but after that he had three days with nothing to do, so why not?

Of course, camping always sounds like fun. Until you start getting hunted by HYDRA soldiers like a wild animal. 

He didn’t think HYDRA planned this. It really was just their luck. Being out in the woods, they happened to pick the one spot that was right next door to a team of HYDRA soldiers searching the woods for what they called an ‘084’.

It was common knowledge that Tony Stark was a main enemy of HYDRA. All the avengers were. So when these soldiers spotted the great Tony Stark chilling near a tent with some kid, of course they were going to take action.

For the first 24 hours they just watched. Making sure Tony didn’t have any suits nearby. Once they were sure it was safe, they raided the campsite, guns raised.

Stark started shouting, threatening the men with guns as if he actually had the upper hand. The kid stayed silent, holding his hands behind his back like he was trying to hide something.

Tony pulled a small metal ball out of his bag and tossed it towards where the soldiers were bunched up. There were three short beeps, before the metal object exploded in blue energy, knocking the men into their backs.

Tony grabbed Peter’s arm and took off into the woods. They kept running for over 45 minutes. Fall was just arriving, leaving the ground around them completely coated with beautiful red and orange leaves.

Peter trudged through them, not paying attention to where he was placing his feet.

Tony turned to make sure they weren’t being followed. But then he heard a scream and a loud thud, followed by the rustling of dead leaves.

Tony turns toward the noise, and he finds Peter on his back in the dirt, gripping his ankle with a grimace on his face. But that’s not the scary part. The scary part is the large metal contraption locked around Peter’s ankle, the sharp teeth digging into his flesh and drawing blood.

“Peter!” Tony shouts, dropping to his knees beside the young avenger.

“I’m stuck! I can’t get my leg free.” Peter cries, blood oozing between his fingers.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Tony assures the kid the best he can, digging around in his backpack and pulling out one of the metal poles they had used to hold up the tent. Luckily, they had an extra.

Tony places the pole in between the jaws of the bear trap, prying it open. He hoped centrifugal forces would be enough to open the contraption.

Eventually, after much effort and cries from Peter, Tony manages to pry the metal open far enough for the kid to pull his leg out. Peter collapsed in the leaves, gripping his still bleeding ankle in his hands.

Tony hurries to pull out the first aid kit.

“Lemme see, kid.” Tony says, gently pulling Peter’s hands away from his leg. There are four large gashes circling just above his achilles heel. Tony is sure he knows how to handle this.

“Alright, I’m gonna have to stitch this, and it’s gonna suck. Here, bite this.” Tony hands Peter a rolled up strip of gauze, and Peter’s eyes are blown wide.

“Just do it.” The kid says, clenching his teeth around the fabric. 

Tony pulls out a pair of tweezers, a needle, and finally some thin thread. Despite the extreme shakiness in his hands, he manages to thread the needle. He grips the needle with the tweezers, shuffling closer to Peter’s ankle.

“This isn’t gonna be fun.” Tony warns Peter, before suddenly there’s a needle digging through Peter’s flesh. The kid groans, his jaw locking shut around the gauze as he lays his head back in the leaves.

Tony does his best to ignore the fact that he’s currently causing Peter immense pain, and instead he focuses on the fact that he’s trying to save Peter from future pain caused by nasty infections.

“Okay! One down. That wasn’t so hard, right?” Tony is trying to be upbeat and sound happy, hoping to calm Peter’s frantic breathing.

He gets started on the second gash in Peter’s flesh, and the kid jerks and tenses up as soon as he starts.

“Try to relax, Peter.” Tony can feel his hands start to shake again, but he forces them to still. Stitches are a very easy to mess up procedure, and there’s no reason to cause Peter more pain than he has to.

By the time Tony finishes with the second wound, Peter is nearly unconscious.

“Hey, kid. Wake up. Can’t have you passin’ out on me, can we?” He pats Peter’s cheek, and the teen groans and picks his head up.

“There you go, kid. Only two more. Half way done.” Tony assures him, starting number three. Peter is tense, his hands gripping a pile of leaves in a tight fist.

Tony tries to pretend that this isn’t Peter. That this is literally anyone but Peter. And surprisingly, that helps. He’s quiet, working diligently, and he can feel how tight Peter’s muscles are under his hands.

Number three went by quick enough, but he knew number four would be the worst. This cut was longer and deeper, and Tony found himself holding back a sigh.

“Almost done, kid.” Tony promises, and when he starts the fourth one he feels Peter’s whole body jerk like he’s been electrocuted.

“Take it easy, Peter.” Tony works as fast as he can while also being careful, and when he’s finally finished, all the muscles in Peter’s body go slack, and he lets the gauze fall from his mouth.

“See? That wasn’t so bad!” Tony smiles, taking the gauze and wrapping it tightly around Peter’s ankle.

“Now, let’s get out of here. And then Bruce can take a proper look at that. Sound good?” Tony asks, gripping Peter’s hand and shoulder to help pull him to his feet. Peter places all his weight on Tony, hopping on his right foot.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark.” Peter mumbles, his face still pulled into a wince.

Before Tony gets a chance to respond, there’s a crackling in his right ear.

“-ony? Tony can- ear me?”

“Natasha?!” How was he getting signal out here?

“We’ve got a lock on your location. Any chance you two are in a position to climb a ladder?” Steve joins in, and Tony grimaces.

“No way. Peter busted his ankle. Your gonna have to find a place to land.” Tony tells them, and he hears Nat sigh. 

“There’s a field about a mile from your location. Can you make it that far?” Natasha asks, and Tony has to really think about that. Luckily, Peter nods.

“Yeah, I think we can. Might take a minute though.” He warns them, before the two start limping towards the field.

Finally breaking through the thick woods and having the sun burn their eyes was shockingly a pleasant feeling. 

The quinjets well… jets, were billowing dust throughout the field, and Natasha and Steve came running from the cargo hold.

“What happened?” Steve demanded, helping Tony walk Peter to the jet while Natasha hovered nervously.

“Kid stepped in a bear trap. Careful, it might be broken.” Tony cautions them, gently sitting Peter down in a chair while Natasha took a look at his leg.

“Not a bad job, considering the circumstances.” Natasha commends Tony, giving him a nod.

“What were HYDRA soldiers doing in rural Oregon?” Steve asks, turning to face Tony.

“Something about an ‘084’. I’m not sure.” Tony can’t take his eyes off Peter.

“Get some rest, маленький паук.” Natasha gently insists, and Peter falls asleep leaning on her shoulder.

And he thought camping would be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story surpassed 1000 hits!! That’s absolutely incredible, thank y’all so much! I thrive off of comments and kudos so don’t be afraid to offer constructive criticism!


	12. “Don’t Move”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is in the middle of a bank robbery and gets shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this one is twelve hours late, I fell asleep last night instead of writing.

Tony Stark walking into a Bank wasn’t something you see very often. The man had his money handled very privately, but 2 years ago he stored a large amount of money in the most secure bank in New York, and every year he adds on to it.

If anyone asked it was a retirement fund, but truthfully it was meant to be given to Peter if anything happened to Tony. He knew Peter didn’t want his money, but it would come in handy, so he did it anyway.

It can’t possibly be a coincidence that the one time Tony Stark is in a bank three masked men with military grade machine guns come barreling in the front door screaming.

The crowd around him scream and drop to the floor as the men fire continuous shots into the air. A scare tactic.

“No way! Is that the great Tony Stark?! Where’s your iron armor, Mr. Hero?” The tallest of the three quipped, pointing his gun directly at Tony’s face.

“It’s actually made of a gold titanium alloy, but surely a smart man like you already knew that.” Tony replies, not at all fazed by his current situation.

Tony was no idiot. And like he told Harley all those years ago, smart guys always cover their asses.

He reached his hand behind him to grab his emergency nanotech wrist piece, when the barrel of a gun pressed into his forehead.

“Don’t move.” The man growled, his finger right around the trigger, ready to blow Tony’s head off in a split second.

By now sirens were approaching in the distance, and Tony held his hands up in mock surrender.

Little did the gunman know, he’d already grabbed what he was reaching for.

Within seconds the nanotech formed the iron man glove around his hand, and he fired a repulsor blast into the man’s chest. He flew backwards, straight into the wall. The other two started firing willy-nilly.

A boot had now formed around Tony’s left ankle, and he blasted off the ground, of lying straight into the second gunman.

A shot was heard, but Tony barely noticed. The second man was groaning on the ground, and the third was running straight out the front door, right into the police’s hands.

Then came the surprise of Tony’s life. With impeccable timing, in flipped Spider-Man, right in the front door.

“No way! Am I late to the party?” Peter complained, walking right up to Tony.

“Impeccable timing, Spider-Man.” Tony laughed, but the movement made something in his stomach jolt in pain.

Tony looked down, pressing his hands to his torso, and pulling them away to find blood.

Peter had moved on the help get the civilians outside, and Tony felt his energy slipping.

“Kid?” He asked, his voice much too quiet for Peter to hear over the crying and panicking voices of the citizens. Once the last of them had made it outside, Peter hurried back over to Tony.

“Kid.” Tony repeated, collapsing on the floor.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter shouts, rushing over to where he lay leant up against a counter.

“Why didn’t you tell me you got shot?!” Peter cries, pressing his hands against Tony’s wound.

“Didn’t notice.”

“Hey! Paramedics!” Peter screams, waving down the EMTs outside.

Two men in uniforms come hurrying in, squatting next to Tony and Peter pulls his hands away to let them help.

“Go, Spider-Man. I’ll be fine.” Tony tells him, and Peter hesitates. He wanted to stay with Mr. Stark, but he knew he needed to leave before the press trapped them inside.

Peter sighed, before using his webs to pull himself through a broken window and swinging downtown.

Tony let the EMTs do their job patiently, but got stubborn when they tried to rush him to a hospital in an ambulance.

“I have a medbay back at my tower.” Tony insists.

They seem upset, but the relent. No one wants to argue with Tony Stark.

Tony arrives back at the tower to find Peter already waiting for him in the lab.

Tony sighs with a smile on his face. “I’m fine, kid.”

Peter ignores him, hurrying forward to check for himself.

“Why didn’t you tell me you got shot?” Peter asks for the second time, glaring at Tony.

“Like I said, I didn’t notice. I was too busy saving 30 lives.” Tony jokes arrogantly, and Peter chuckles.

“Have Bruce check you out anyway.” Peter insists, still giving Tony a side eye.

“Peter, I’m fine.” Tony presses, not really wanting to take time out of Bruce’s day to check on a wound that’s already been helped.

“Humor me.” Peter says, plopping his backpack on the counter to pull out his homework.

“Fine. But next time you get hurt and refuse to see Bruce, I’m going to remember this.” Tony warms him, sitting next to Peter at the desk.

The two did Peter’s physics homework together, the kid insisting the entire time that he didn’t need help. Until, of course, electromagnetism came up and Peter spent five minutes redoing the same problem over and over again.

Luckily, if anyone knew about electromagnetism it was Tony, seeing as he had a massive one buried in his chest. Peter begrudgingly accepts Tony’s help, swearing that if anybody asked about this he wound deny it.

Once Peter’s homework is done the two get started on their lab work, Tony rambling about making Peter’s suit bulletproof.

Tony had a habit of taking his and his friend’s injuries and using them to improve Peter’s suit.

Rhodes fell from the sky and became paralyzed, so he gave Peter a parachute.

Tony almost froze to death in Siberia after his fight with Steve, so he gave Peter’s suit a heater.

Natasha once burned her leg during a mission, so Tony made Peter’s suit flame retardant.

Tony got shot, so now he wants to make Peter bulletproof.

Natasha once pointed this out to Tony, and the man adamantly denied it. But of course she knew she was right. It was heartwarming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone reading so far!! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my writing. Sorry about the lack of whump in this one, it’s mostly fluff XD.


	13. Adrenaline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets crushed by something heavy and Tony has an adrenaline rush and lifts it.
> 
> READ NOTES PLEASE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make something clear. I know in chapter one Tony obviously already knows about Toomes dropping a building on Peter, but this is a prequel! It’s how he finds out! This takes place before chapter one!

Tony had to be honest, when the team was called out for a small mission, he’d expected it to fly by easily. They were the Avengers for God’s sake! But no. Of course something had to go wrong, and, as usual, it had to involve the kid.

“Spider-Man, that building is full of civilians! Help get them out, we can handle this.” Captain America ordered, taking a leadership position as usual.

Peter does as he’s told, swinging towards the eastern office building Cap had pointed out. Karen warned him that all the civilians were on the third floor, luckily gathered together. That made it easier.

Peter launched himself feet first through a window, rolling forward to break his fall. The women screamed, glass shards flying everywhere.

“Don’t worry. I’m here to get you to safety. Everybody follow me.” Peter assured them, creating a sort of pulley system with his webs, allowing him to lower each of the eleven employees to the ground safely. 

Once they reached the floor they scattered, rushing away from where the other three avengers were fighting the alien creature.

Just as Peter was about to make his way down to the ground, there was a rumbling sound that gave him chills. He could see cracks forming in the foundation of the building, and suddenly he was back in Queens, and he was staring down the Vulture.

Peter freezes, panic setting in as his hair stands up and his fists clench. Someone is speaking to him over the comms, but he can’t hear them through the ringing in his ears. He doesn’t even notice when the floor beneath gives in, dragging him straight down to the earth below.

Peter opens his eyes, and he’s sure he must’ve blacked out because he had no memory of the building actually coming down. But he doesn’t care about that. What he cares about is the heavy rubble of six stories pinning him to the concrete underneath.

He feels his heart rate start to speed up, and Karen is urging him to calm his breathing but he can’t.

“Boss. Peter seems to be in distress.” Karen says, and Peter’s sure she’s talking to Tony now, but he’s not listening anymore. He grips his mask and tears it off, trying to take deep breaths.

He’s lying on his back on hard concrete, with thousands of pounds of more concrete on top of him, keeping him stuck.

Peter does his best to lift it, to get it off of him, but his hands are shaking too badly. He can taste blood mixing with dirt in his mouth, and something is dripping off to the right.

This is too similar to that night.

He hears someone calling his name. Tony? He can’t be sure, because his brain is spiraling, but that’s the first name that comes to mind.

“FRI, find me a path.” Tony orders, and the AI must have listened, because sixty seconds later Tony is on his knees by Peter’s head, who has now fallen unconscious.

“Alright. I gotta lift it.” Tony mumbles, the metal fingers of his suit gripping the concrete so hard they create divots in the stone.

“Tony, there’s no way you can lift that! Even with the suit. You’ll break every bone in your body.” Steve insists, still trapped fighting the alien with Natasha.

“I have to try, Rogers. The kid is suffocating.” Tony snaps back, reminding himself to lift with his legs.

Miraculously, the concrete in his hands moves, ever so slightly. Tony laughs in shock, gritting his teeth against the pressure. As soon as the rubble is lifted high enough, Peter wakes with a gasp of air, coughing violently.

“Peter move!” Tony grunts, and Peter scurries out from under the rubble. Tony drops it, and he feels his knees buckle as all the strength in his body dissipates.

Peter is breathing heavily, his whole body shaking.

“Are you hurt?” Tony demands, gripping Peter’s shoulder. The kid just shakes his head, and Tony can’t help but notice how terrified he seems. But he decides to table that question for another day, seeing as they still have to find their way out of here.

“FRI, is there an easy way out?” Tony asks, and though Peter doesn’t hear her response, he can tell Tony gets the answer he wanted. The older man sighs, relieved, and he begins to lead Peter out of the rubble.

Once they break ground, Peter collapses onto his back on the road. Tony sits next to him, placing a calming hand on Peter’s chest. The kid is still breathing rapidly, and Tony can feel his heart beating like a freight train.

“Peter? You have to relax, okay? You’re safe now.” Tony assures him, and Peter closed his eyes and covers his face with his hands.

“Sorry.” Is all he says, and Tony is so shocked he almost laughs.

“For what?!” He asks, staring at Peter’s hidden face incredulously.

“I froze. I could’ve gotten out but my body just shut down.” Peter grumbles, sighing heavily as his breathing starts to ebb towards a normal pace.

“We’re talking about this later. For now, I have to help Steve and Natasha.” Tony promises, hurrying back towards the fight, leaving Peter to calm himself down.

When the fight is over, the team climb into the quinjet to head home, and Natasha finds Peter bundled up in a blanket, hiding in the corner. She moves to sit next to him, gently nudging his shoulder.

“Are you alright, маленький паук?” She asks, not looking away from the way his hands are clenched so tight around the blanket that his knuckles have turned pale.

“I’m okay. Guess I’m a little claustrophobic, is all.” Peter whispers, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.

Natasha smiles warmly, placing an arm around Peter’s shoulder.

“We all have fears, Peter. It's nothing to be ashamed of.” She tells him. That causes him to look up in shock.

“Even you?” He asks, his voice soft and careful.

“Even me.” She assures him. That seems to help Peter relax, and he nestles into her side like a child would.

“Tony. How the hell did you do that?” Steve asks, walking up beside where Tony is watching the two spider themed heroes with a warm smile.

“Do what?” Tony asks, turning to face the Captain.

“Lift an entire office building! Your arm bones should’ve shattered.” Steve insists, shock written all over his face.

“I had an adrenaline rush. They’re very common. The body becomes overwhelmed with adrenaline, also known as endorphins, and it causes hysterical strength for a short period of time.” Tony explains, patting Steve on the shoulder before moving to look at the windshield at the front of the plane. 

When they arrive back at the tower, Peter goes straight to his room. Tony follows him.

“Knock knock.” The older avenger calls gently, slowly opening the door.

“Come in.” Peter replies, sitting on the edge of his bed staring at his shoes.

Tony sits next to him with a sigh, sitting close enough that their shoulders are touching.

“Wanna tell me what happened today?” Tony asks, seeming as though he’s treading carefully.

Now it’s Peter’s turn to sigh, as he pulls his feet up onto the bed to hug his knees.

“Adrian Toomes.” Is all Peter says.

Tony pauses. He didn’t know much about the fight between Peter and the Vulture. All he knew was that Peter was brave as all hell, and that he saved Tony several millions of dollars.

“Okay.” Tony is trying to urge Peter to continue, but making it clear that he doesn’t have to. “What about him?” 

“When he was trying to hijack your plane. I confronted him in this old warehouse, and he told me he was stalling. Said he ‘needed time to get her airborne’. His wing suit attacked me.” Tony could tell Peter didn’t like this story, seeing as his hands were shaking.

“He said he was sorry. But I didn’t understand why because the wings hadn’t hurt me yet. He said they weren’t trying to. They had been attacking the support beams of the building.” Peter pauses to take a breath, and Tony feels his own body quiver as he figures out where this story is going.

“The building just fell down right on top of me. It was so dark and I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t- I couldn’t move. And I just remember thinking that no one was coming for me. And I was trapped for almost ten minutes before I finally managed to lift the rubble off of myself.” Peter finishes, wiping his eyes with the back of his shaking hand.

Tony doesn’t know what to say except that he’s sorry. He took away Peter’s suit. If Peter had had Karen, she might’ve been able to call Tony for help.

“And before you apologize, it wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you.” Peter says before Tony can even open his mouth. He sighs, smiling at Peter.

“Try to get some rest. Let me know if you need me.” Tony says, patting Peter’s shoulder. The kid sniffles, before curling up in his blankets like a toddler.

Tony joins Steve and Natasha in the living room.

“Is he okay?” Steve asks, gesturing towards Peter’s door.

“He’ll be fine. He just got a little spooked by today.” Tony tells him, moving to get some water.

He wouldn’t be able to get Peter’s story out of his head for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This one is slightly longer than the average.


	14. Tear-Stained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has sensory overload

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is totally awful and I formally apologize because I’m very embarrassed of it but I just had complete writer’s block.

For the second time in as many months, Peter interrupted Tony’s lab work with tears on his face and a sniffly nose. Tony drops what he was working on, hurrying over to the sobbing teenager. Peter was whining, his hands pressed tightly over his ears and his eyes squeezed shut.

“Peter?” Tony asks, resting his hands over Peter’s. The boy whines at the sound, curling further into the wall.

“Too loud, too loud, too loud.” Peter whimpers, and Tony spots tears trailing down his cheeks.

Tony pauses, before moving to grab the earmuffs he’d made for this exact situation. He gently taps Peter’s hand, letting the tear-stained avenger know he’s trying to get his attention. 

Peter peeks his eyes open, the whites of his eyes red and irritated by the salty tears still drenching his cheeks.

Tony silently hands Peter the earmuffs, and the kid slips them on, his tense shoulders relaxing almost instantly.

“Wanna tell me what happened?” Tony asked, making sure to keep his voice down. Peter’s eyes are buried in his knees, which are now curled up against his chest.

“I don’t know. I just woke up from my nap and everything was too loud and too bright and I could feel my clothes ok my skin and it felt awful. It was like my brain was on fire.” Peter whispers, and Tony can still feel the kid’s body shaking.

“Sensory overload. With your heightened senses, sometimes they get overwhelmed. It should stop in a bit.” Tony assures him, making sure not to touch him.

If Peter’s senses are as bad as he’s making it seem, physical contact definitely won’t help. The two of them remain on the floor, as Peter waits for his sensitivity to go down. But it doesn’t.

Tony sends Peter up to the living room to try and relax, while he starts working on finding out why Peter’s senses are so erratic.

When Peter arrives in the living room, Natasha gives him a puzzled expression.

“Why are you wearing earmuffs, Peter?” She asks, turning to face him from her spot on the couch. Steve follows her gaze.

“My senses went crazy.” Peter says, as if that explains it completely, before plopping onto the couch next to her. 

“Anything I can do?” She asks, handing Peter her coffee.

“Mr. Stark says to just wait it out.” Peter notices that she’s already talking quieter, and he nods in appreciation. 

She remains quiet, and her and Peter do puzzles in silence until Tony comes jogging up the stairs.

“I made you some sunglasses that have the same technology as the lenses in your mask. Should help your eyes relax.” Tony says, handing them over to Peter. Peter pulls them on, and Tony can practically feel the tension leave him.

“That’s way better, thanks!” Peter exclaims, a smile growing on his face.

Over the next few hours Peter’s senses only get worse. Around dinner time the earmuffs stop helping and the avengers are forced to be completely quiet, or Peter starts crying again.

Eventually it calms down, and Peter is able to remove his sunglasses without his eyes going red.


	15. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter walks in on Tony shirtless and finds out his mentor had more stories than he thought. Tony takes the time to explain most of them to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m actually pretty proud of this one! It’s not too long, only around 1600 words, but it’s pretty whumpy and I like it.

Peter found himself making his way up the stairs in search of Tony. He was simply bored and looking for something to occupy his time. He figured he’d ask Tony if he wanted to work on something in the lab.

That is until he walked into Tony’s room. The older man was holding his shirt in his right hand, the fabric crumpled into a ball, while he was running his fingers along a particularly rough scar on his chest.

Shock was enough to freeze Peter completely. He’d known that Tony had been through some rough fights, and that that implied he’d have a few scars, but this was way more than he was expecting.

The scariest one was a large burn, completely healed by now, that covered almost a fifth of chest, right in the center where his arc reactor used to be before he got it removed.

“Peter.” Tony suddenly says, dropping his shirt and turning to face the young avenger, who was still frozen in the doorway.

“Mr. Stark?” He asks, feeling his feet moving forward without his permission. He found himself standing in front of Tony, gently poking at the large burn.

“What happened to you?” Peter whispers, glancing up at Tony.

Tony sighs, leading Peter over to the bed and sitting next to him.

“How much do you know about Aldrich Killian?” Tony asks, a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Only a little bit. I mean Coronel Rhodes told me some of the story, but he didn’t give me any details.” Peter admits, still staring at Tony in shock.

“But he told about how hot they got? The people infected by Extremis?” Tony asks, making eye contact with Peter. Peter only nods.

“Well, when I was in one of my suits, Killian got me on my back, and he warmed up his finger and pressed it right into the suit right here.” Tony pauses to tap the middle of the burn scar, before continuing.

“And the metal of the suit got so hot it started to melt, right on top of my skin. And it burned me pretty badly. A few seconds later I managed to get Killian off me, and I ignored the burn as best I could so I could finish the fight and save the President.” Peter seems wide eyed with awe, like this is the most interesting thing Tony’s ever told him.

“What about this one?” Peter asks, gently placing his fingers over a smaller, different kind of burn.

“Ah. This one's from my time in Afghanistan. Most of my scars are. What do you know about that story?” Tony asks carefully, making sure he didn’t scare Peter by telling him he was tortured for three months.

“I know the basic story. Natasha told me that your childhood friend hired some terrorists to kill you. And I know that they kept you in a cave for a long time. And that that’s where you built your first suit. But that’s all I’ve been told.” Peter tells him, and Tony can tell the kid is trying to be gentle. As if he’s afraid of upsetting Tony.

“Well that’s the gist of it. What they didn’t tell you is that those men were not very kind to me in that cave.” Tony’s edging around the truth, not wanting to drop a bomb in Peter’s lap. The kid frowns for a moment, before looking up at Tony with sad eyes.

“Did they torture you?” Peter asks, although it’s nearly a whine. And Tony nods gently.

“This particular burn is from a taser. Or maybe it was a cattle prod. I really can’t remember.” Tony says, allowing the memories to come back to him. It had been years since his time in that cave, and by now he was mostly healed, not only physically but emotionally.

“And this one?” Peter whispers, tracing a long and smooth scar that trailed down the side of Tony’s stomach.

“That one, you were there for. That’s from the day that we fought Thanos on Titan. Do you remember that day?” Peter flinches, but nonetheless he nods.

“I remember most of it. I remember meeting the Guardians, and I remember almost winning. But then Mr. Lord got mad and Thanos escaped. Everything after that is a little blurry. Up until I turn to dust.” Peter shivers, and Tony spares the kid the pain of asking about it.

“Well, while you all were unconscious, I tried to stab Thanos. But he grabbed the blade and turned around and stabbed me. I froze it up, and to be honest I don’t remember much of the pain because I was a little distracted by everyone around me disappearing.” Tony sighs, glancing down at Peter.

“What about these?” Peter asks, and Tony feels his gentle fingers following three long lines going down Tony’s back in all different directions. Tony sighs. He was worried Peter might pass out if he explains this one.

“Those are also from Afghanistan. Are you aware of what a bullwhip is?” Tony asks, watching Peter warily to gauge his reaction.

Peter freezes, and Tony swears the kid looks like he might cry, before he takes a deep breath and forces himself to relax.

“I think so. Flash joked about using one during sex once. But I didn’t believe him. I thought they were meant for fun?” Peter asks, and the innocence behind the question makes Tony’s heart sting.

“Most of the time now, they are. But when they were first invented, their purpose was to punish people. Bad men would string little metal beads onto the leather of the whip, and they’d use it to punish people who misbehaved.” Tony explains, trying his best not to remember how it felt to be strung up. And how it felt for little metal balls to slice through his skin. And how it felt for blood to drip down his back.

Again, Peter stills. It’s almost a minute before he’s able to speak again. “Is that what happened to you?” Peter asks. Tony nods.

“I don’t understand. I thought Mr. Stane wanted the terrorists to kill you. Why were they hurting you instead?” Peter asks, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Because the terrorists decided that if they had me, they could make me useful. So they asked me to build a weapon for them. And I refused. This,” Tony pauses, gesturing to the scars on his back, “was their way of ‘motivating’ me.”

“What about this one?” Peter asks, gesturing to a crescent moon shaped scar on Tony’s right shoulder. Tony forces himself to take a deep breath. This is something he’s never talked about with Peter, or to be frank, with anyone before.

“That’s from a beer bottle. It uh… got stuck in my shoulder.” Tony says, silently hoping he can weasel his way out of a further explanation. He wasn’t upset with Peter for asking, he’d be curious too, and he knew he could always refuse to answer. But he promised Peter full honesty from now on.

“How’d that happen?” Peter must sense that this topic makes Tony uncomfortable, because his question is careful, his voice barely above a whisper.

“My father, Howard, he got angry one day. And there was a broken bottle on the table. Looking back at it I think he only meant to threaten me. I don’t think he wanted to hurt me. At least not that day.” Tony mumbles the last part, unable to stop himself, and he glances up at Peter anxiously. 

Somehow, this upsets Peter the least of all his stories so far. Tony watches as Peter absorbs the information, processes it in his head, and then lets it go.

“And this one?” Peter asks, already moving the subject along. Tony glances down to find Peter’s hand hovering over a small, circular scar. Tony smiles. Finally an easy one.

“That is from getting shot while escaping the afghan cave. I’ll admit, it made it a little hard to walk through the scorching desert.” Tony chuckles, and Peter struggles to find the joke.

“How come none of this bothers you anymore? I feel like any normal person would have really bad PTSD from this stuff.” Peter seems genuinely curious, and Tony really has to think about his answer.

“Well to be honest Peter, most of it does bother me. Or at least it used to. But when we experience traumatic things, sometimes it gets us down for a while. And that’s fine. It’s normal to be upset about things like that for awhile. Maybe years. But eventually you move on from those scary things, and you learn to accept them and to live with them.” Tony is in full dad mode now, and Peter listens graciously.

“I know that what happened with the Vulture and with Thanos still scares you sometimes. And I want you to know that it’s normal. Just because you’re an Avenger doesn’t mean you don’t have trauma. We all have bad memories. Even Captain America has trauma. But eventually we move on from it, and we get better.” Tony seems to be done with his speech, and Peter frowns, resting his head on the older avenger’s shoulder.

“How do you stop being afraid of it?” Peter asks, fidgeting with his hands. Tony sighs.

“You talk about it. Not all scars are visible, Pete. But talking about them, and letting others help, can sometimes make them hurt less.” Now it’s Peter’s turn to sigh, and Tony smiles as the kid nuzzles into his shoulder.

“If you ever wanna talk about the Vulture or Thanos, or anything for that matter, you can always come to me. Or Natasha, or even Rogers. You know that, right?” Tony asks, leaning down to look at Peter’s face.

Peter nods, and the two drift into silence. Tony is rehashing old memories in his head, and Peter keeps him company, letting his mentor work through it in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. The next prompt is really hard and I’m struggling to figure it out, but I promise to give it my all!
> 
> Reviews and comments really motivate me, so feel free to invest a few seconds! <3


	16. Pinned Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is sparring with Natasha. When she pins him down, he has a panic attack and she has to help him calm down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is very Natasha & Peter heavy, Tony is barely there.

Tony was awoken by loud thudding noises. At first he thought it was an earthquake, until he sat up in bed and found that his room was shaking due to something coming from upstairs.

It’s moments like this that Tony regrets putting the tower’s gym right above his bedroom. But who would be in the gym at 5:30 in the morning? Tony climbed out of his bed, pausing on the edge to pet the sudden dizziness pass.

By the time he had slumped up the stairs and into the gym, he already a guess of who was sparring this early.

“Peter. What the hell are you doing up so early?” Tony asked, moving to sit on the edge of the weight machine.

Peter stood in the middle of the sparring mat, currently in a fight with Natasha.

“I couldn’t sleep, so Tasha’s helping me practice.” Tony decided not to comment on the fact that Peter was now calling the Black Widow ‘Tasha’. Instead, he grabbed a soda out of the ice chest.

She was clearly winning, seeing as Tony had never once seen her lose throughout all the years he’s known her. But it was also obvious that she was taking it easy on the kid.

Tony watched the two spar, occasionally handing Peter helpful tips, but for the most part he remained silent. He hadn’t known Peter was this good at fighting. Most of Peter’s superhero fights consist of shooting people with webs from a safe distance.

It was around 6:15 am when Natasha grabbed Peter’s left arm and flipped him over her shoulder. Peter was giggling as she sat on his lap, effectively trapping him.

“Try and get up.” Natasha smirked, clearly confident that Peter couldn’t pass this test.

“Tasha, there’s no way I can do that without hurting you. Let me up.” Peter said, feeling his body tense up.

“Peter, when someone is attacking you, you can’t be worried about hurting them. You have to put yourself first.” Natasha told him, failing to notice the way Peter’s breathing was speeding up.

Tony however, did notice. He also noticed the wide eyes of the teenager, and the way his fists were clenched.

“Natasha, let him go.” Natasha could heat that Tony was being serious, so she climbed off Peter’s lap. The young avenger remained on the floor, his breathing picking up faster and faster.

“Peter? Hey. Look at me.” Tony said, moving towards the teenager to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Is he okay?” Natasha asked, sitting next to them on the floor.

“He has a claustrophobia problem. Give him a minute.” Tony told her, rubbing Peter’s shoulder. His eyes were clenched shut and he was covering them with his hands.

“маленький паук.” Natasha said, resting her hand on the kid’s forehead. Tony couldn’t help but notice the way Peter’s body immediately relaxed at the nickname, a sigh escaping his lips.

“It’s okay, Peter. You’re safe.” She assured him, pulling his hands away from his eyes. “Look around you. You’re safe.”

Peter sat up, nervously looking around the room, before finally his eyes settled on Natasha’s warm smile.

“See? Tony and I are here. It’s okay.” Tony scooted closer to Peter, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

It took a few minutes, but Peter eventually managed to slow his breathing, allowing Tony and Natasha to assure him that he was safe and free to go whenever he wanted.

The two adults waited patiently, but Tony could practically smell the burning curiosity radiating from Natasha.

“Peter? Wanna tell me what that was about?” She asked, gently gripping Peter’s shoulder to get his attention.

It was then that Tony remembered that he was the only one Peter had told about his night with the Vulture. It hadn’t even occurred to either of them that they should tell Natasha or Steve.

Peter sighed, moving to sit on the couch in the living room, while Natasha and Tony followed.

“Did Mr. Stark ever tell you about the night that I fought the Vulture? The guy that was trying to hijack his plane?” Peter asked, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

“He told me the basic story. But I don’t know any of the details. What I do know, is that you were very brave. And that you saved Mr. Toomes’ life, and that plane.” She said, glancing at Tony.

“Well, before we got on the plane, I caught up to Mr. Toomes in an abandoned warehouse. He used his mechanical wing suit to break down the support beams of the building.” Peter paused, wiping a tear from his face. Natasha moved so that she was next to him on the couch, wrapping an arm around his side.

“I didn’t notice what he was doing at first. But then the building just collapsed. It just fell right down on top of me and knocked me out. I can’t be sure but I think I was only unconscious for a few seconds.” Tony could feel the muscles in his body tightening as he listened to this story for the second time.

“When I woke up I was on my stomach on top of a bunch of rocks. And there was something heavy on my back, pinning me down. And I couldn’t breathe. I was so scared, and I didn’t have my phone so I couldn’t call anyone. And I just remember thinking that no one was coming for me.” Peter sniffled, and Natasha handed him a box of tissues.

“I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to lift the rubble off of me and climb out. It feels stupid, but I get really panicky when I’m stuck. I just feel like I’m right back under that building, scared and alone.” Peter cried, curling into Natasha’s side.

“маленький паук, I want you to know that that is completely normal. It’s called Post Traumatic Stress. And y’know what? I have that problem sometimes too.” That got Peter’s attention. He looked up, tears in his eyes.

“Really?” He asks, seeming skeptical.

“Of course! And I’m sure Tony and Steve have it too. We’re still human. And so are you.” Natasha said, poking Peter’s nose. “I know you wish you could get over it because of how long it’s been, but you have to remember that everybody is different. It might take you some time, but one day you will move past this.”

Peter seemed comforted by her words, a small smile appearing in his face.

“Thanks, Tasha.” He said, resting his head on her shoulder.

“Next time I’m scaring you, you have to tell me okay?” She insisted, making sure to look him in the eye. He only nodded, relaxing against her side.

Tony smiled at the two, before deciding it was best to give them some space. He left, but not before receiving a deathly glare from Natasha that clearly said _“you tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you”_. He nodded, before backing out of the room with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked!


	17. “Stay With Me”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a nightmare, and while trying to calm him down, Tony and Natasha discover the truth about where Peter really was during the Blip.
> 
> Nonetheless, please enjoy. :)

Tony was used to being woken up by loud noises throughout the night. Living in a tower with four superheroes, an AI that has more brain cells than all the Avengers combined, and two robots that are unbelievably clumsy, there’s bound to be some sleepless nights.

But tonight was different. Tonight Tony was jolted out of his peaceful rest by someone screaming in terror. Now Tony was the kind of person who took quite a while to wake up in the morning. But it only took him one second to recognize the voice calling out for help. 

_ Peter. _

He clambered out of bed, nearly tripping on his way down the hall. Shoving the door open, he pauses to take in the situation.

Peter was tangled in his sheets, his fists clenched and pressed into the mattress as heavy sweat drips down his face. The kid was screaming so loud Tony swore his ears might start bleeding.

“Peter!” Tony shouted, rushing to sit on the edge of the bed. He scrambled to grab Peter’s hands, which were scratching against his own chest.

Tony barely heard the door move behind him, before there was a weight pressing into the bed and hands helping him hold onto the super kid’s wrists.

“Peter? Sweetie, can you hear me?” Natasha asked, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

The teenager only moaned in response, his face crumpled up in a grimace of terrorized anguish. Natasha pulled Peter up and into her lap, stroking his hair softly. His screams had devolved into broken whines now, and his fingers were clenched tightly around Natasha’s hands.

“Pete. Buddy, you gotta wake up, okay?” Tony muttered, gently patting Peter’s cheek.

Finally, after nearly five minutes, Peter jerked upright in a panic, glancing around the room. His sudden movement nearly cause his head to slam into Natasha’s chin, but luckily she dodged it.

“маленький паук?” Peter’s eyes settled on the nervous faces of Tony and Natasha, and he sighed, slumping against the wall.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked, placing a steadying hand on Peter’s shoulder. 

Peter lifted his hands to rub his face, trying his hardest to take deep breaths. “Yeah, I just… sorry. I don’t know what happened.” 

“You had a terrible nightmare, that’s what. Do you wanna talk about it?” Natasha asked, moving so that she’s sitting next to Peter on the bed.

“It was the Blip. Or I guess it was where I was during the Blip.” Peter whispered. Natasha and Tony glanced at each other in worried confusion.

“Where you were? Peter, you never told you ‘were’ anywhere. We though it all passed in seconds for everyone who got blipped.” Tony asked.

“Well I don’t know if we all had the same experience. From talking to others, it seems like they all had an easy time. But me, not so much.” Peter mumbled, with a simple shrug of the shoulders as if those three sentences explained everything.

“Peter, wha- Where were you all those years?” Tony asked, shock overwhelming confusion.

“I don’t know where. I guess, inside the soul stone? I mean, that’s what Mr. Strange said. But it was like a nightmare. Everything I never wanted to happen was repeating over and over for every second that I was there. I saw so much. I saw you guys and Captain Rogers dying, I saw Ned dying, I saw Mr. Toomes too. And I lost count of how many buildings came down on my head over time.” Peter paused, reaching up to wipe away his tears.

“Everything I was scared of just playing on repeat for five years straight, and I didn’t even know how long it had been when I finally woke up. And then I came back to Earth and you almost died and for a second… I actually forgot I’d ever gotten rescued. I thought I was still in that place.”

Tony remained quiet, processing the bomb Peter had just dropped. Meanwhile, Natasha decided to put aside her worry and shock to comfort the crying teenager in her arms.

“Come here, маленький паук.” She said, wrapping her arms around Peter and letting him cry in her lap.

“You don’t have to worry about that. You never,  _ ever _ have to go back there. I promise you.” She assured him, running her fingers through his curly hair.

Tony managed to snap out of his daze, moving to sit on Peter’s other side, rubbing the kid’s back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you guys.” Peter mumbled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. We’re always here when you need us.” Tony said.

“Why don’t I go make you some tea?” Natasha asked, leaning down to look at Peter’s face. He nodded, sitting back against the headboard. Natasha smiled, before heading to the kitchen.

“I’ll let you try to get some more sleep.” Tony moved to climb off the bed, but he was stopped by a smaller hand gripping his wrist.

“I just… will you stay with me?” Peter asked, seeming embarrassed by the question. 

“Yeah, of course, Pete. Move over.” Tony moved to sit next to Peter, letting the teenager snuggle into his side.

“Try to get some sleep.” It took a few minutes but eventually Tony felt Peter’s head fall forward as he started snoring quietly.

Natasha returned with a mug in hand, smiling warmly at the two in the bed.

“Don’t worry, I’m only gonna tell everyone about this.” She warned him, setting the mug down on Peter’s nightstand.

“Very funny, Widow.” Tony grumbled, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulders.

Throughout the night Peter stirred restlessly, seeming to be in an upsetting dream on and off. But with some whispers and a comforting hand rubbing his back, he would relax, settling further into the mattress.

Tony smiled, forcing himself to stay awake until the sun came up so he could watch over his kid. He’d die before he let anything hurt Peter, even his own subconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worked pretty hard on this one, hope y’all enjoyed it!


	18. Muffled Scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrian Toomes returns for revenge on Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took some creative liberties with this one. Toomes is very OOC, so sorry about that but he’s hard to write. I’m also very sorry this chapter is so late!!

Tony was shocked out of his nap by red alarms blaring loudly throughout the tower. He jolted up from where he’d been laying on his desk, turning towards the door of the lab.

“FRIDAY? What’s going on?” He asked, standing up and walking to the door.

“It appears there’s been a break in. I recognize the intruder as one Adrian Toomes. I recommend checking on Mr. Parker.” FRIDAY said, and Tony felt his heart stop.

“Peter!” He shouted, sprinting up the stairs to Peter’s room. His suit followed, piece by piece forming around his body as he ran.

He made it to Peter’s room in seconds, only to find it empty. Natasha comes running.

“Tony! What’s going on?” She asked, noticing how scared he seemed.

“Adrian Toomes.” Is all he said, but he saw her face fgo white.

“Where’s Peter?”

“I don’t know. We have to find him.” They made their way throughout the halls, FRIDAY letting Tony know that Steve was checking the upper floors. They finally arrived in the kitchen, the last place anyone would think to look. But despite all logic, there they were.

Peter was held back by two men, who must be incredibly strong if they’re able to keep Peter in place. His arms were pinned behind his back, and there was a hand over his mouth. The kid was growling, struggling against the hands holding him.

Then there was Mr. Toomes. He was standing a few feet to the left of Peter, his arms crossed in front of him, a smile on his face.

Tony lifted a gauntlet-clad hand, aiming directly at Toomes’ face.

“Let him go.” He growled, and the repulsor whined as it came to life.

“Ah ah ah. I wouldn’t recommend that, Tony. Wouldn’t want Pedro to get hurt, now would we?” Toomes drawled, and that was when Tony noticed the gun against Peter’s temple. Had hadn’t he seen that sooner?

With a huff of frustration, Tony lowered his hand. Natasha in turn dropped the gun she’d been aiming at Toomes.

“What do you want with him?” Tony took the time to look at Peter’s expression. He didn’t seem scared. Just severely pissed off, maybe even frustrated.

“What do I want with Pedro? Well, you see, after he sent me to prison… my daughter, my beloved baby girl, and my beautiful wife, they stopped talking to me. They moved away to Oregon and I never heard from them again. He  _ stole _ my family!” Toomes screamed, kicking Peter in the shin. His knee buckled and he fell against the man holding him, before regaining his footing.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have been dealing illegal weapons! There are a million ways to support your family without breaking the law.” Tony said, his eyes not leaving the gun in Toomes’ hand. Natasha only had eyes for Peter, trying to remind him to stay calm. The angrier the kid got, the harder he fought the men, and the more likely they were to shoot him.

“Ah yes. High and mighty Mr. Stark as usual. The great, and powerful  _ Tony Stark _ . You were the reason I had to take desperate measures!” Tony knew that. Peter had told him all about Toomes’ resentment towards the entire Stark company.

“That doesn’t make this right, Adrian. You don’t wanna hurt a 17 year old kid, do you?” Natasha asked, trying to play good cop. Toomes chuckled.

“I tried to kill him once already. Might as well try again.” Tony didn’t miss the flinch that Peter gave at the reminder of his night of buildings falling down. But it was small enough that the intruders wouldn’t have noticed.

“If you hurt him, I will blast your face open, do you understand me?” Tony growled, raising his gauntlet again to make clear his threat.

“Really? Let’s test that.” Now Tony understands why they’re in the kitchen. Toomes reached forward and pulled a knife out of the cutlery drawer, and before Tony could react it was buried hilt-deep in Peter’s thigh.

The kid screamed bloody murder into the hand on his mouth, the sound coming out muffled, and Tony lunged forward. Natasha hurried to grab him and pull him back.

“Tony, they’ll kill him if you attack.” She reminded him, a hand on his shoulder. Tony was furious, and every cell in his body was screaming for him to just  _ protect the kid _ .

“I am going to kill you.” Tony said, his teeth clenched tightly. Toomes responded with a chuckle.

“I’m looking forward to it.” He said, turning around to pick up his gun. 

Natasha wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. The second Toomes turned back around, there was a bang, and a large red hole appeared in between his eyes. The man slumped to the ground, and his goons were distracted long enough for Peter to pull himself out of their grip.

It wasn’t long before they too were on the ground, and Peter fell back against the wall gripping his thigh. Natasha ran to find Bruce, while Tony helped keep Peter calm.

“Kid? Look at me. Everything’s gonna he fine.” Tony assured him, and it’s only another minute before Bruce rushes in.

“Move.” He ordered, and Tony listened. “His femoral artery’s been severed. Tony, give me your belt.”

Tony complied without a moment’s hesitation, and Bruce wrapped the belt tightly above Peter’s wound. The kid cried out in pain, gripping Bruce’s wrist until his knuckles turned white.

“Don’t worry, Peter. You’re gonna be fine.” Bruce promised, and Tony helped him lift Peter off the ground. They walked him to the med bay, and Tony regrouped outside with Steve and Natasha.

“How is he?” Steve asked, glancing nervously at Peter.

“Bruce says he’ll be fine. But I’m sure he’s a little spooked.” Bruce joined them in the small hallway, his hands covered in blood.

“He’s asking for you.” Bruce said, gesturing to Natasha. She seemed shocked by that, but nonetheless she entered the small room.

“Hey, маленький паук.” She said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I wanted to thank you. He was gonna kill me.” Peter mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

“You always have my protection, Peter. No matter who against.” She promised, grabbing his hand. Peter smiled, seeming like he already felt better.

“Get some rest. And please, for the sake of Tony’s heart, stop almost dying.” She joked, patting his knee as she stood up.

“I’ll try my best.”


	19. Asphyxiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter nearly drowns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, but don’t worry, this one is a two parter! Part two will be out tomorrow!

Peter wasn’t quite sure how it happened. One minute he was on land, and the next he was underwater. The water was so cold that it was burning his skin and he started fighting against the rope wrapped tightly around his ankle.

Whatever was at the end of that rope was dragging him down quick enough that he felt his ears pop painfully. After seconds Peter could already feel his lungs burning, and he forced himself to keep his mouth closed. 

He had to remember that Tony was already en route to his location. But that didn’t make the pain any better.

The instinct not to breathe underwater is so strong that it overcomes the agony of running out of air. His lungs felt like they were being squeezed in a fist, and it was excruciating.

He could feel the energy rushing out of him as he fought to free his ankle.

The first involuntary breath comes while he’s still conscious, which is unfortunate, because the only thing more unpleasant than running out of air is breathing in water. His throat burned like he had breathed in fire, and his whole body jerked violently as his lungs tried to hack up the water.

This only caused more water to flood in, and Peter could feel himself falling asleep.

_ Mr. Stark is gonna come. _

He thought, forcing his body to relax, or at least he tried. But the sirens in his brain were wailing, and his nerves were on fire. For the second time in his life, Peter was dying. And he was sure of it. 

Peter thought he must’ve passed out, because when he opened his eyes again he was staring up at the worried and panicked face of the great Tony Stark.

He seized violently as the water came back up and he coughed it out onto the sand.

“Peter!” Someone shouted, a hand grabbing his shoulder.

All Peter knew was that it burned like lava as it came up his throat, leaving him feeling like his esophagus had been rubbed with sand paper. The coughing didn’t help soothe his throat, and Peter found himself in unbearable pain.

“Peter? Can you hear me?” That sounded like Captain Rogers.

Peter jerked his head in a nod, just now noticing how freezing cold he felt. 

“Give me a minute.” He panted, wrapping a hand around his neck. He fell back into the sand, breaths coming too quickly and too harshly, and they singed his throat.

“He’ll have trouble breathing for a week or two but he should be fine.” Oh good. Dr. Banner was here too.

He felt the abnormally strong arms of Captain America lift him up and walk him onto the quinjet. There was now a strong wheeze in Peter’s breathing and he collapsed in the chair nearest the exit.

“You scared the crap out of us.” Tony said, settling himself in the chair next to Peter.

“Sorry.” Peter whispered, realizing he could barely speak.

“No, don’t apologize. Just stop doing it.”

The plane trip back to the tower was short, and Bruce insisted that he check Peter out properly in the med bay. Peter adamantly refused, claiming he just wanted to go to bed.

“You can’t get out of this, Parker. Let’s go.”

Bruce took his time checking on Peter, and the poor kid was exhausted by now.

By the time he made it back to his room, he barely reached the bed before he passed out. He was still shivering, so he wrapped himself up in a blanket.

Another rough day.


	20. Trembling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets hypothermia after the lake incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one is like 2 or 3 days late, but Incase you missed my note, I got a kitten 3 days ago and he’s got me up all night and very busy, so I take full responsibility for being late, and I apologize. I’m doing my best to catch up.

Peter woke up to his body trembling vigorously. It was almost painful. His toes and fingers felt numb to the touch, and like they had fallen asleep. Like that feeling when you have static under your skin.

He tugged his blanket up closer to his chin and curled up underneath it, but that wasn’t helping.

“FRIDAY?” Peter asked, leaning up to look at the ceiling where the detached voice came from.

“Yes, Peter?” She responded, sounding like she was smiling. Or at least she would be if she had a face.

“Can you turn up the heat in my room?” She paused, and he thought maybe she didn’t hear him.

“Peter, it is already 75 degrees in your room. I would advise against heating it further.” That stopped him in his tracks. There was no way it was 75 degrees in there. He was  _ freezing! _

“Are you sure?” He asked, sure that she had miscalculated.

“Yes, Peter. I’m sure.” She told him, before the light in the ceiling that indicated she was present shut off.

Peter still wasn't 100% sure he believed her, because he was still shivering in his bed. He climbed out of bed, nearly tripping on his way to the kitchen.

“Morning, Pete!” Tony called from his seat at the breakfast bar. Peter ignored him, sitting in the second seat and resting his forehead on the counter. He had his arms wrapped tightly around him and god he was  _ still shivering _ .

“You feelin’ okay?” Tony asked, resting a hand on Peter’s neck. The touch felt hot as fire, and Peter nuzzled into the warmth.

“I’m really sleepy.” He mumbled into the countertop.

“Hey, your pulse is real slow, kid. Here, look at me.” Tony pulled Peter into an upright position and placed the back of his hand against the kid’s forehead.

“Christ kid! You’re freezing.” Peter moaned at the touch, weakly shoving Tony’s hand away.

“Bruce? Come over here.” Tony called, steadying Peter by gripping his quite literal cold shoulder.

Dr. Banner approaches the breakfast bar, frowning at Peter’s state. He was slumped in his seat and resting his head in his hands like he was falling asleep.

“Peter? Can you look at me?” Peter begrudgingly lifted his head.

Just as Tony had, Bruce felt Peter’s forehead and then his pulse, taking a second to listen to how slow his breathing was.

“Jeez. He’s got hypothermia. Must be from that lake debacle yesterday. Let’s get him bundled up, and I’ll start on some hot tea.” Bruce ordered, and Tony pulled Peter, well he practically dragged Peter, over to the couch. The kid was dropped between Tony and Natasha.

Tony explained the situation, and Natasha smiles warmly as she passed her blanket over to Peter. He wrapped himself up like a burrito, before nuzzling into her side.

“You’re so warm.” He mumbled, laying his head on her shoulder. She chuckled, wrapping her arms around him. Tony joined the cuddle session, the point being to share body heat but he could tell that wasn’t the only reason Nat and Peter enjoyed this.

Bruce returned a few minutes later with piping hot tea, and Peter accepted it gratefully.

Just Peter’s luck. He nearly dies, and the lake still can’t let him off easy. So now he’s trembling so hard that the mug in his hands is shaking, and he can barely feel his toes. Perfect.

But luckily, Tony and Natasha were more than willing to offer their warmth to the young Avenger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, oops?


	21. Laced Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony hosts a party at Avengers Tower. One of his old friends drugs Peter.
> 
> READ NOTES FOR TWs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massive trigger warnings for:  
-implied attempted rape/non-con  
-use of date-rape drugs  
-GHB  
-non-con drug use
> 
> Please be safe!

The party was  _ booming _ . Then again, it was thrown by genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark, so of course it was going to be exceptional. Peter really should’ve expected no less.

All of Tony’s old friends were in attendance, even a few from his weapon building days, not to mention all of the avengers. Somehow Tony had gotten a message to Asgard, and for some reason, Thor accepted.

This was Peter’s first time meeting the god, and he didn’t know how to feel. He expected Thor to be intimidating, a tall man that towered above everyone around him. Yet he was barely taller than Steve, a mere inch, and Peter immediately relaxed. Especially considering the friendly aura he exuded.

The Asgardian was almost  _ too _ nice, nearly bouncing off the walls. He greeted Peter with a painful hug and an exuberant grin.

“Man of Spiders! I’ve heard only the best from the man of iron.” Thor shouted, patting Peter’s shoulder with such strength that the poor kid almost fell over.

“You can call me Peter.” He said, returning the pleasant smile.

Hawkeye was present as well, and he was much more relaxed than the god. He approached Peter with an air of calm, and the teen was comforted by his chilled nature.

“Peter, right? Name’s Clint. I’ve heard a lot. Some impressive, especially for a kid. Some was embarrassing, I’ll admit.” Peter cringed but smiled nonetheless.

“Mr. Stark likes to bully me.” Peter said, taking a second to look for the billionaire. The man was being friendly with several guests, mostly pretty women and what looked like businessmen, and he seemed really happy.

“Yeah, I’m sure he does, kid. Guy’s a jerk.” Clint joked, laughing to himself.

Peter wandered about the party, sipping a glass of apple juice Natasha had given him with a smile that was closer to a smirk.

Peter was shocked to find that Captain Rogers was actually socializing. Mostly with Thor, whom he already knew pretty well, but also with some of Colonel Rhodes’ military buddies. Although Peter shouldn’t be surprised that the Captain was drawn towards fellow soldiers.

Peter found himself sitting at the bar asking for more apple juice, and as he waited a man in a suit sat on his right.

“Little young for a Stark party, aren’t ya?” The man asked, nudging Peter with his elbow.

“I live here.” Peter replied dryly, not really caring what this man had to say.

“You live here?” He asked, shock evident on his face. “What’s a kid doing in Stark tower? Don’t tell me you’re an illegitimate baby?”

Peter almost laughed. “Nope. Just an intern that he took under his wing. No relation.” Peter couldn’t be sure but he swore the man almost seemed disappointed by that.

Peter receives his apple juice, and he sets it down as he turns to look for Tony. It’s not that he didn’t trust the older avenger, it’s that he wasn’t sure Tony wouldn’t get hammered and pass out. But he did trust that the other avengers could handle it. He’d noticed throughout the night that Steve and Tasha were keeping a watchful eye on the billionaire.

Peter turned back to sip his drink, accepting that he didn’t have to look out for Tony tonight because the adults were taking care of it.

It was almost immediate. Peter started feeling dizzy instantaneously, the glass in front of him becoming three, then four glasses. He felt his breathing become harder and harder and he couldn’t tell if that was from panic or the effects of whatever was making him dizzy.

“Hey kid? You okay?” The stranger asked, placing a steadying hand on Peter’s shoulder. He probably should’ve flinched. Should’ve stood up and stumbled his way to Tony or one of the others, but he couldn’t think.

Sweat drenched his forehead soon after, as he felt someone wrap an arm around him and lead him to the hallway. Now he was sure he should be running, but his legs weren’t cooperating. It was like someone had drained all the energy out of his body.

The part of his brain that allowed for panic seemed to be working perfectly, because his arms were shaking and he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t even notice when the man laid him down on a bed.

_ Whose bed is this? _

“Peter? Peter!” Someone was screaming his name, but he couldn’t put a name to the voice. Hands were on him and he whined, weakly shoving them off.

“Peter? Can you hear me?” The voice asked, and Peter, despite exhaustion and terror, managed to peek open his eyes.

“Tasha?” He moaned, recognizing the bright red hair. There were people fighting in the background, and Peter found it very distracting.

Tony joined them on the bed. “Is he okay?” He demanded, a palm on Peter’s forehead.

“He’ll be fine. Where’s Banner?” Natasha asked.

“He had to get some air. Stop the big guy.” Peter was sure he knew what that meant but the pieces weren’t falling together.

The fighting ceased, and Peter’s eyes adjusted just as a fuming Steve Rogers dragged the strange man out of the room.

“Peter? How many fingers am I holding up?” Tony asked, or at least Peter thought it was Tony. He tried to focus on Tony’s hand, he really tried, but there were about eleven fingers and that didn’t make sense.

“Eleven?” Peter asked, not missing Tony’s worried frown.

Bruce came back, much calmer, and he gently moved Tony aside so he could look at Peter.

“Peter, can you describe your symptoms?” Dr. Banner asked, a hand pressing to Peter’s neck to check his pulse.

“Um… I’m nauseous, really dizzy, why are there three of you?” Peter whined, rubbing his eyes.

“I can’t be sure without bloodwork, but I’d guess it’s GHB. He could be like this all night if I’m right.” Bruce told them, and Tony’s frown deepened. “Peter, I would recommend you take a nap now.” 

A few minutes later Peter complied, falling asleep to the comforting feeling of Natasha stroking his hair gently.

-POV Switch-

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Tony growled, trying to shove past Steve, who had to physically restrain him.

“Tony, we don’t know that that’s what he was thinking.” Steve said, clearly trying to calm Tony down so he didn’t commit manslaughter.

“Yes we do, Rogers.” Natasha said from her position on the bed. Steve was sure it was purely subconscious, but Natasha was crouched protectively over Peter, gently petting his hair.

“How can you be sure?” Steve asked, really just trying to see the best in people.

“Because I’m a woman.” She shrugged as though that was all she needed to say, and really, it was. Steve sighed, keeping his grip on Tony, who growled again.

“Let go of me. I’m gonna kill him!” Tony shouted, fighting with Steve.

“Tony, I’m not gonna let you kill a man. The police are on their way. Just calm down.” Steve insisted, cautiously letting Tony go. The shorter man fumed, pacing angrily across the room.

The police arrived moments later, taking the man, who Tony had identified as Liam Mersin. He was an old friend from Stark Industries weapons days, and Tony had always thought he was a good guy. Guess you never really know people.

“I trusted him. I invited him into my home and he attacked my kid.” Steve decided now wasn’t the time to comment on Tony calling Peter ‘his kid’.

And Natasha was too busy watching over Peter to care. Meanwhile, Bruce was monitoring the kid’s heart rate. Bloodwork had confirmed that it was, in fact, GHB. Tony felt like his nerves were on fire.

It was hours before Peter woke up, and when he did he was deeply upset and confused.

“Where am I?” He whined, sitting up from where he’d been laying in Natasha’s lap.

“You’re in the living room. You’re safe, I promise, маленький паук.” Natasha held him tightly, using the voice that she’d invented solely for Peter.

“Hey Pete. How do you feel?” Tony asked, crouching in front of Peter.

“Still a little lightheaded. Am I okay?” Peter asked, looking up at Bruce across the room.

“You’re just fine, Peter. You might experience symptoms for a few more hours, but you’ll be okay.” Bruce told him, moving to get him a glass of water.

Tony sat on the couch and placed Peter’s bundled up feet in his lap, while Steve took Tony’s place crouched by Peter’s head.

“Can you tell us what happened, Peter?” Steve asked, facing up at Natasha.

“I don’t know. I went to get more of my drink, and this guy sat next to me at the bar and started talking. Said he was your friend.” Peter paused to gesture to Tony, who stiffened. “Then I got really dizzy and I woke up here.” 

“Peter, that ‘guy’ drugged you. You’re lucky Natasha was on the lookout.” Steve said, nodding his head at the red haired woman. Her grip tightened on Peter.

“Wait, what? With what?” Peter asked, looking over at Bruce.

“It’s called GHB. It stands for gamma-hydroxybutyrate. It’s a relatively common date-rape drug, but the effects are minimal.” Peter flinches slightly at the raw language but he seems to relax at Bruce’s assurance that he wasn’t going to die.

“Well what happened to the guy?” Peter asked, looking over to Tony.

“Steve knocked him out and he’s with police now.” Tony assured him, a hand on the kid’s knee.

“Did he- I mean what did he do?” Peter asked shyly, burying his hands in his lap.

“Oh Peter. He didn’t even touch you. Natasha was right on time. You’re fine.” Peter visibly relaxed into Natasha’s arms, allowing himself to feel safe surrounded by four of the greatest heroes on Earth.

“Thanks, Tasha.” He said, looking up at her. She smiled and kissed the top of his head.

“I’m always here, маленький паук.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But more of a serious subject in this one but I had fun writing it.


	22. Hallucination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets dosed with PCP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not proud of this in any way, it’s awful in my opinion.

Peter was starting to get sick of this shit. This is the third time in as many months that he’s been drugged. But there was something different about this time. 

Almost immediately he felt his legs give out and he slumped to the floor. He found himself leaning against the wall of this disgusting alley.

It wasn’t long before his eyes started deceiving him. He saw spiders. What must’ve been hundreds of them, just crawling up his legs. He panicked, kicking his legs and rubbing at them fearfully. He was screaming bloody murder and scrambling to get away, when large and loud engines approached him.

Two men and one woman hurried towards him, and he screamed in terror, scurrying away from them.

“Peter! Peter stop, it’s just us!” The shorter man shouted, resting a hand on Peter’s knee. He flinched violently and pulled his knees into his chest.

He didn’t know these people. He was sure he didn’t. But they knew his name? How was that possible.

The two men glanced at each other nervously, while the woman squatted in front of Peter.

“маленький паук?” That got his attention. He looked up to find the woman smiling at him warmly.

Peter relaxed, letting his pull him into her arms. Tony would never understand Natasha. She just had this  _ way _ of communicating with Peter, even when Tony couldn’t. Somehow she got through to him every time.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” The woman asked, petting his hair.

“There are spiders everywhere and I can’t make them go away and they won’t go away and they’re scary.” Peter cried, still smacking at his legs and shaking.

“Peter, honey, look at me. There’s no spiders on you.” She promised him, gripping his hands.

“No, but they’re there. I see them!” He insisted. Why was this woman lying to him? Did she think he was stupid?

“маленький паук, listen to me. There’s nothing there.” She said again, looking him in the eye.

“There’s… there’s not?” He asked, looking back at the spiders he could still see and feel crawling all over his legs and stomach.

“I  _ promise _ .” She said, pulling Peter to his feet.

“Why… why are you helping me?” He asked, looking up at the strange woman. She was very pretty, and Peter liked her hair, but that didn’t explain why she was helping him.

“Because we’re friends, Peter. Don’t you remember?” She seemed genuinely worried about him, and he was even more confused.

“No, I don’t… I don’t know you.” He insisted, refusing to look at her face. He saw he turn to look at the two men behind her, before she pulled Peter into a hug.

“Don’t worry. We’re gonna keep you safe. Do you trust me?” She asked, forcing him to look at her.

“I think so.” She took that as a yes, and they flew Peter back to the avengers tower.

“Why are we at the avengers tower?” Peter asked, hesitating to enter the building.

“Because we’re avengers, Peter.” The taller man with the shield said, holding the door for Peter and the woman.

They sat him down on the couch, the woman holding him in a hug, while the two men sat in front of them on the coffee table.

“Peter.” The shorter man said, waiting for Peter to look at him. “Do you know who we are?”

Peter shook his head, and this seemed to upset the man.

“Okay. Well my name is Tony. This is Steve, and that’s Natasha.” The man said, gesturing to the taller man and the woman.

“Can you tell us what happened to you?” The taller man- Steve- asked him.

“I was fighting with some guy. And he… he stabbed me in the neck, and it really hurt, and then the spiders came.” Peter mumbled, fidgeting with his hands.

He was shocked out of the conversation by the door opening. He looked up immediately, his eyes widening at the large, black, oozing creature slithering through the door. Peter scrambled back off the couch and away from the strangers, not taking his eyes off of the creature.

“Peter?” Tony asked, watching the way the teenager’s eyes lit up with panic and he backed away from something they couldn’t see.

“No no no no no no  _ no _ .” Peter cried, curling up in a ball in the corner. Whatever he was seeing obviously was coming closer because he started screaming.

“Peter!” Steve shouted, moving to approach the kid.

“Rogers, let me handle this.” Natasha warned, and the soldier stood down. Tony watched as Natasha slowly approached Peter as though he were a wild animal.

“Peter?” She asked in the voice she deserved for Peter. He was crying and shaking his head vigorously.

She crouched next to him, placing a calming hand on his back. “Can you look at me?”

Peter flinched, but shockingly he lifted his head to look at her. Natasha gave him a warm smile, the kind that only women can give, and only to children.

“Can you tell me what’s scaring you?” She asked, and he looked back at the creature.

“It’s a monster! Can’t you see?” He cried, gesturing to the large black beast slowly approaching.

“No, Peter. I can’t see anything. Do you want to know why? Because there’s nothing there.” She said, glancing to where he was looking.

“But it’s right there!” He insisted, looking at her like she was crazy.

“маленький паук.” She whispered, and he looked up at her. “You once told me you would always trust me. Is that still true?”

Peter hesitated, but he nodded and turned away from the monster. “It’s really not there?”

“Really. You know I’d never lie to you, or trick you.” She promised, now playing with his hair.

“Peter? Do you wanna come back over here?” Tony asked, and Peter let Natasha lead him over to the couch.

This process continued for several hours. Peter would see something, Natasha would calm him down, and Tony and Steve would lure him back to the couch to sit down.

Eventually they managed to get him to fall asleep, which allowed Bruce to examine him.

“Phencyclidine. Or um- PCP. Common hallucinogen. He’ll be fine. He might still be a bit off for the next 18 hours or so.” Bruce warned, before taking his leave.

“Y’know, I really wish he’d stop getting into these situations.” Tony joked, refusing to leave Peter’s side when Steve offered lunch.

Another day, another drugging. Hopefully the last one. 


	23. Bleeding Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets shot many times and only Tony is around to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another relatively short one, so sorry about that, but I’m finally caught up again! My kitten says hi!

Tony was really starting to think that Peter does these things on purpose. It’s like every week the kid walks into the lab covered in blood and hurt badly, and Tony’s the only one around to help.

This time was the worst so far. Thinking about it, Tony doesn’t even understand how Peter made it to the tower. The teenager was riddled with bullets, later on Tony counts seven total.

Peter struggled to make it down the stairs into the lab, and when he arrived he immediately collapsed onto the floor, clutching his stomach.

“Peter!” Tony screamed, dropping everything to run to the teenager bleeding out on the floor.

“What the hell happened?!” Tony asked, rushing to grab a towel.

“Ma-machine gun. Didn’t see it.” Peter grunted, practically screaming when Tony pressed into the wounds with the towel.

“FRIDAY, where’s Banner?” Tony asked.

“He’s one his way, boss. ETA is seven minutes.” She reported, and Tony groaned.

Peter had tears on his face and Tony felt guilty, knowing this was partly his fault. 

“Alright, kid. I gotta get these bullets out. Can you sit still or should we wait for Bruce?” Tony asked, not sure if they had time to wait for Bruce.

“I’ll be fine. You have to.” Peter said, and Tony could feel him tending under his hands. Tony grabbed the first aid kit off the counter, pulling out tweezers and gauze.

“This isn’t gonna be fun.” Tony wanted him. Peter nodded.

“We’ve been through this before, I know the drill.” Peter reminded him, pressing his fists into his eyes. “Just do it.”

Tony didn’t hesitate, he went into the first wound. Peter flinched, and Tony could feel how tight his muscles were. “Try to relax, kid.”

Peter took a deep breath and managed to relax his muscles. There was a clink as the first bullet hit the tray.

“One down already, look at that!” Tony cheered, trying to stay positive. The second one was worse, Peter crying out in pain and jerking.

“Sorry, sorry.” Tony muttered, wishing bullet wounds weren’t so stubborn.

He was number three when Bruce finally arrived, hurrying into the lab. The path into the lab was completely streaked with blood, which lead up to the dark red puddle on the floor.

“Jesus!” Bruce exclaimed, hurrying to the two on the floor in the middle of the puddle of blood.

“H-hey Dr. Banner.” Peter muttered, by now completely slack on the floor.

“Hey Peter. Can you do me a favor and stay awake?” Bruce asked, already starting to dig out bullets.

Peter wasn’t even complaining anymore, he was just moaning weakly.

“Pete, kid, stay awake, okay? Look at me.” Peter didn’t respond. Tony gently smacked his face.

It took nearly twenty minutes for Bruce to get all of the bullets out, and Peter drew closer and closer to passing out. Once it was safe, Tony helped Bruce move Peter up to the med bay.

It was hours of Tony panicking out in the hallway, and Bruce being busy working on Peter, who had passed out by now.

Tony is shocked out of a pacing session by the door opening.

“Is he okay?” Tony demanded, turning to face Bruce.

“It was touch and go for a while, I’ll admit, I was worried at one point. I gave him some blood and he’ll need plenty of rest, but he should be fine.” Bruce told him, a gentle smile on his face.

“Jesus Christ. Thank you, Bruce.” Tony said, going to see Peter.

The kid was unconscious and paler than Tony had ever seen him. Not to mention what looked like thirty wires in his arms and chest.

God this kid was killing him.


	24. Secret Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter breaks his wrist and hides it from Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just barely under 1000 words, but I love it!

This wasn’t the first time Peter had kept something from Tony. In fact, he did it more than he cared to admit.

But this was the most serious secret. Peter had slipped while he was swinging home, and he stuck his right hand out to break his fall. Unfortunately, his hand went straight into the ground and snapped three of his metacarpal bones and his radius.

He had screamed shortly, gripping his wrist painfully in his left hand. Getting home had been a walk in the park. Literally, he had to walk through a park to get back to the tower.

Once he arrived, he scurried straight to his room. His bones should be healed by next Monday, and though it was unrealistic, Peter hoped he could spend that time hidden in his room.

No luck.

The text comes in at 7:15pm.

_ Hey kid. Come on down to the lab, I need ur brain. _

Peter sighed, chewing on his lip. There were a million things he could say to try to get out of it, but all of them ended with either Tony coming to check on him, or sending Natasha to do it instead.

_ Can it wait? I was gonna shower. _

That was the answer least likely to cause concern.

_ Just five minutes, squirt. Please??? _

Of course. Peter groaned, anticipating the situation going the opposite of how he hoped it would. Tony would find out about his hand, and would either berate him kindly for slipping, or be overly concerned over something as stupid as a busted wrist.

The trip down to the lab was eventful to say the least. Peter had forgotten about his hand and had reached out to hold the railing on the stairs. Which almost made him pass out.

Once he arrived, Tony greeted him cheerily.

“Hey Pete! Come check this out!” He said, not even looking up from his desk. Peter made his way over as slow as possible.

“I need help with this physics equation. I’m pretty sure I’m right but something feels off about it.” Tony said, sliding a paper scribbled with numbers over to Peter.

The mistake was immediately obvious to Peter, and every inch of his brain was yelling for him to fix it, but Peter was right-handed. And his right hand was broken. Aka he couldn’t write right now.

Peter forced himself not to sigh, before he sat at the desk and grabbed the pen with his left hand, his right hanging painfully at his side.

The problem was easy to fix, but writing with his non-dominant hand slowed him down immensely.

“Pete?” Tony said, staring at Peter with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah?” Peter asked, chewing on his lip.

“Why are you writing with your left hand?” Peter paused, trying to think of a good answer.

“Because… I wanted to see if I could.” Peter enunciated each word as if that would be more convincing, but Tony obviously wasn’t buying it.

“Let me see your hand.” Tony was squinting at him suspiciously, and Peter pursed his lips.

“No.” He said, tilting his head challengingly.

“What do you mean no?” Tony asked, a shocked look on his face.

“I don’t wanna.” Peter shrugged, his right hand hidden behind his back.

“Are you five? Parker, I will have Rogers come in here and tackle you.” Tony threatened, holding his hand out waiting for Peter to place his hand in his.

“I dare you.” Peter quipped, scrunching his nose.

“Did you get a secret tattoo or some shit?” Tony asked. Peter almost laughed.

“Nope. My healing factor burns them away.” Peter told him with another shrug. Tony blanched.

“Excuse me?! Did you try to get a tattoo?!” Tony demanded, glaring at Peter.

“Nooooo.” Peter whispered, licking his lips. 

“We’ll talk about that later, mister. Now give me your hand. Don’t make me call the Captain.” Tony snapped, holding his hand out again.

“No!” Peter shouted.

“Rogers!” Tony screamed, walking towards the door.

“Okay fine!” Tony turned around with an arrogant grin on his face.

“Come on.” He said, raising an eyebrow at Peter. The teen sighed dramatically before resting his hand in Tony’s.

“Peter! What did you do?” Tony exclaimed, inspecting the deep purple bruises covering Peter wrist and the back of his hand. He prodded gently, causing the teen to flinch.

“I uh… I fell.” Peter said, his shoulder slumping.

“Jesus Christ. We’re going to Bruce.” 

“Mr. Stark!” Peter whined, taking a step back.

“Hey! Remember when I got shot in that bank and you insisted I see Bruce, and then I told you I’d remember it? Yeah, well I remember it. Let’s go.” Tony replied, grabbing Peter’s healthy wrist and dragging him out of the lab.

The visit with Bruce was quick but embarrassing. Peter didn’t really want to explain how he had missed his web shot and fallen thirty feet off a roof. Bruce wrapped his hand and insisted he doesn't use it until it’s better, and Tony smirked the entire time. 

“You’re a jerk.” Peter grumbled, walking back to his room.

“Love you too!” Tony called after him, heading the opposite direction. 

Peter tried his best not to think about that and nothing else for the next month. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! When Tony says “Hey! Remember when I got shot in that bank and you insisted I see Bruce, and then I told you I’d remember it? Yeah, well I remember it. Let’s go.” That is a reference to Chapter 12.


	25. Humiliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter fails a test at school and Flash posts copies all over the school to embarrass him.
> 
> READ NOTES
> 
> After you read this chapter I recommend jumping to chapter 28.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’re confused by the last few paragraphs read the end notes.
> 
> THIS CHAPTER IS NOT FLASH THOMPSON FRIENDLY

Peter was angry with himself. He failed a test! In math, no less. That’s the easiest class in school and he failed! And of course, Flash wasn’t going to let him forget it.

By the time the bell rang and had made it out into the hallway, the papers were everywhere. On every locker and door in the whole school. Peter was starting to think that Flash  _ was the Flash. _ How the hell did he print these out so fast?

Peter realized the how didn’t matter. What mattered was that the whole school was laughing at him. Peter Parker, the smartass, failed a math test. This would be all over the school for at least a week. Luckily math was his last period. He snuck to his locker with his hood up, grabbing his books and hurrying out the front door.

The trip home was uneventful. Besides, of course, the two seniors whole pointed and laughed at him as he passed Forever 21.

Once Peter arrived at the tower he went straight to his room and slammed the door.

“Peter? Are you alright?” FRIDAY asked, being triggered by the noise.

“I’m fine, FRIDAY.” Peter groaned, his pillow pressed into his face. “Just trying to suffocate myself.”

FRIDAY took his joke a little too seriously, and moments later Tony Stark came walking in.

“What do you want?” Peter snapped, not even looking up.

“Well hey there Mr. Grumpy. What’s up with you?” Tony asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Oh nothing. Just that Flash humiliated me in front of the entire freaking school and I can never go back!” Peter screamed into the pillow, his frustration nearly causing him to rip it open.

“How’d that happen?” Peter knew that Mr. Stark was trying not to laugh. Of course he’d find this funny.

“I failed a math test! Me!! I’ve never failed a math test! And now the whole school knows about it. I’ll never live this down.” The silent chuckling ceased.

“Peter, everyone will have forgotten by Monday. Trust me. You think the same thing didn’t happen to me in high school? It’ll be over before you know it.” Tony promised, patting Peter’s shoulder.

The teenager sighed into the pillow, before letting it fall away from his face.

“Really?” He asked, his voice small. Tony had never seen Flash bother him like this before. Usually Peter took the bullying in stride.

“Yes really. Why are you letting him do this to you? Stand up to him.” Tony said.

“Because! Like I said when we first met. ‘I couldn’t then, so I shouldn’t now.’” Peter quoted his own words and Tony was reminded of the day they met.

“Yeah I remember. But Peter, just because you have powers doesn’t mean you have to use them. Just stand up right in his face and tell him to go fuck himself!” Tony didn’t bother censoring himself. Peter was old enough to hear the F word by now. Hell, Tony himself was saying it at 12 years old. 

“That’ll only make things worse. Flash will take it as a challenge and he’ll just get worse.” Peter whined, covering his face with the pillow again.

“Why is he so mean to you?” Tony asked.

“Because he doesn’t believe I work for you. He thinks I’m making it up.” Peter grumbled, and Tony blanched.

“That’s it?! Why didn’t you tell me that! I would’ve come to school with you and threatened the kid with infinite pain and torment.” Tony exclaimed incredulously. Peter actually laughed. That’s progress.

“I  _ would _ like to see him shit his pants in front of the whole school. But no. I can handle this myself. Thanks though.” Peter mumbled, a small smile on his face.

“You’ll let me know if it gets worse, won’t you?” Tony asked, pulling the pillow away to look Peter in the eye.

“Yes mom.” Peter laughed, and the two made their way to the living room.

“You’re going to school tomorrow. No getting out of it.” Tony ordered, giving Peter a friendly shove in the shoulder.

“Maybe I’ll just hunt down an alien and drink its blood. Can’t send me to school if I’ve got guqruid again!” Peter threatened jokingly, and Tony flinched.

“That’s not funny.” Tony mumbled, opening the fridge.

Peter paused. Every now and then Tony would say or do something unusual and, for just one second, Peter would truly see how much Tony cares about him. This was one of those times. It hadn’t occurred to him that the week Peter had guqruid was probably the worst week of Tony’s life.

“Sorry.” Peter said, plopping down on the couch.

School was going to suck tomorrow, but if Peter could brave Thanos himself, he can brave someone with a stupid name like ‘Flash’.

Besides, it’s not like it could get any worse. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mention of an illness called ‘guqruid’ that Peter threatens to contract from alien blood is a reference to Chapter 7.


	26. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know how to summarize this so just read it okay?
> 
> ALSO! Hi! I changed my username, no one freak out, it’s still me! Btw for anyone wondering my name is not actually Macy... it’s Beck!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took creative interpretations with this prompt, it’s not what you think it is.

Unbeknownst to Peter, he and Tony were being followed. Had been for hours. You’d think that his spidey senses would have alerted him to this hours ago, but it never came.

At least not until Tony walked away from him for a few minutes. Peter waited by the car while Mr. Stark ran back in to grab whatever it was he’d forgotten. And the hair on Peter’s neck stood up, and his body was flushed with chills.

The office building was flooded with people, with no way for Peter to determine the threat. That is, until there was a gunshot. Peter didn’t even consciously decide to run before his feet were moving.

People were screaming and evacuating the building, but Peter paid them no mind. He knew what he was looking for. And he found it almost immediately.

Tony was unconscious on the floor, a massive bloody hole in the left side of his neck, and the gunman was grinning. He hadn’t even noticed Peter yet. Peter paused, fear coursing through him like fire.

But he had to table that, because there was still something in his mind screaming  _ threat threat threat _ .

Peter tackled the gunman, shots firing wildly as the man panicked and squeezed the trigger. It took almost no time for Peter to disarm and knock out the man.

And then the panic came back. Should he call Dr. Banner? Would he arrive in time? Or should he call 911?

He decided Dr. Banner was the safest option. So with a shirt pressed against Tony’s bloody neck, Peter calls Bruce. The older man picks up after the first ring.

“Hello Peter. How can I help you?” Bruce asked, a smile in his voice.

“Dr. Banner! Help, please! Mr. Stark’s been shot and there’s only so much I can do here, you have to meet us here.” Peter spoke so fast Bruce barely understood what he said. But he’d heard enough.

“I’m on my way.” Bruce promised. “Natasha!”

Bruce kept Peter on the phone, helping him stay calm, while Natasha piloted the jet. They arrived in record time, and Bruce and Natasha hurried to the second floor.

“Tony!” Bruce shouted, rushing over to the teenager and the billionaire’s place on the marble floor.

Natasha gently pulled Peter away and did her best to keep him calm, while Bruce did his job.

“маленький паук. It’s okay. You did great. Just breathe with me okay?” She coached him through a breathing exercise, and luckily he followed.

The journey back to the tower in the jet, while only five minutes, felt like hours to Peter. Natasha walked him inside and got him to sit on the couch, while Bruce rushed Tony in the other direction.

Peter’s hands were smothered in blood and shaking violently.

“Peter? Are you alright?” Steve asked, approaching the two on the couch. He’d already been brought up to speed, and he knew he couldn’t help Tony right now, so he focused on the teenager who looked ready to snap.

“I don’t know. I can’t- I can’t breathe.” Peter whined, starting to hyperventilate.

“маленький паук. You have to relax. Tony is going to be fine. I promise. Just breathe, sweetie.” Natasha hummed, petting Peter’s hair. 

“No no no. He’s dying. He’s gonna die.” Peter felt like he was back on the battlefield. Like it was  _ that day _ again. And he was watching Mr. Stark die right in front of him and Colonel Rhodes wouldn’t let him help and he just had to help but Rhodes was holding him back and he just couldn’t breathe and he felt like the world was falling apart right around him and he felt like he was turning to dust all over again.

Now wasn’t the time for Peter to acknowledge that Mr. Stark was right when he insinuated that Peter still had leftover trauma from what Hawkeye had uncreatively dubbed “T-Day”.

Peter must’ve been thinking out loud. “Peter, Thanos is dead. This is just a simple bullet wound, Bruce has dealt with hundreds. Tony will be  _ fine _ .” Natasha insisted, grabbing Peter’s hand.

“She’s right, Peter. Tony’s been shot plenty of times, he’ll be okay. Just breathe.” Steve added, not admitting that he was as nervous as Peter.

Bruce joined them  _ seven hours later _ .

“Is he okay?” Peter demanded, looking up at the doctor.

“I’m not sure. Dr. Cho and I did everything we could. It’s up to him now.” Bruce spoke slowly, as if he was worried Peter wasn’t even listening.

They watched as Peter paused, blinked a few times, and nodded to himself. “Can I see him?”

“Of course, Peter.” Bruce said, gesturing for Peter to follow him.

Peter remained calm when they walked in, worried that if he started crying again he’d never stop.

“I’ll give you a minute.” Bruce left, and Peter found himself unable to move. He just stood by the door for nearly half an hour.

“Hey, Mr. Stark.” He muttered, sitting in the chair next to Tony’s bed. “You know how much I hate to beg, but I really don’t know what else to do right now.”

Peter paused, forcing himself to take a deep breath. “It’s just… you can’t leave me. Not you too. Not after my parents, and Uncle Ben, and Aunt May. Not you too, please. I don’t know what I’d do, I don’t…”

He paused again. Speaking was nearly bringing him to tears and he refused to cry, so he forced it back down and sighed heavily.

“If you’re dead, then Natasha and Steve will have to coparent me, and I don’t think you trust them enough for that, because they’ll probably screw me up. So if you don’t want me to be raised by a feminist assassin and an ancient super soldier, I suggest you wake up.”

Then it was silent, and Peter stayed for two days. At one point Natasha tried to coax him out of the room with a cookie like he was an adolescent dog, but Peter didn’t even look at her.

“Peter, honey. You can't stay here forever. You need sleep.” She said, petting his hair again.

“I can sleep in this stupid chair.” He muttered, not looking away from Tony.

She sighed quietly, before patting his shoulder and then leaving him alone. 

Tony didn’t wake up until November 1st. Considering he got shot on October 3rd, that was awful. Peter spent most of that time in Tony’s room, only leaving when he absolutely had to, or when Captain Rogers quite literally dragged him out.

But the morning of November 1st, Peter got shocked awake by loud coughing. He didn’t even register the meaning of it at first.

“Oh hey. You alright?” He asked, looking at Tony.

The older man nodded and went to speak, but got stopped by- “OH HEY!!” Peter screamed, looking like he’d seen a ghost.

“Peter? What’s- oh.” Peter practically climbed onto Mr. Stark and squeezed him in a hug.

“Ow.” He muttered, but Peter ignored him.

“Jeez dude! We thought you were gonna die!” Peter shouted, opening the door to the med room.

“Tasha! Captain Rogers!” He yelled, knocking on the wall. The two came running like the building was on fire, looking panicked.

“What’s wrong?! Oh. Tony, hey! Thank god.” Steve exclaimed, walking into the room with a grin.

“Glad you’re back, playboy.” Natasha said, a small smile on her face as he hugged Peter.

That night Peter went to sleep easily for the first time in over a month. Of course, even if Tony had died, yes Peter would’ve felt abandoned yet again. But he knew it wouldn’t have been Tony’s fault. But now he didn’t have to worry about that.

Everything might just be okay.


	27. Ransom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets kidnapped (again? God damn kid) and the kidnapper wants a ransom.

This had to stop happening. It just had to. Tony’s body literally could not handle the stress.

Peter disappeared on a Tuesday. They didn’t receive any communication until Friday. For three days Tony believed what was basically his son at this point to be dead. But then a video file appeared in his email.

“Boss, you’ve received a video file from an unknown address. I believe it involves Peter.” The soup in Tony’s hands shattered on the ground and he sprinted to the living room.

“Display it.” Natasha and Steve were there as well, and they waited anxiously for the video to start.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark! How are you today?” The man cheered, clapping his hands together.

“I’m sure you’re waiting for me to get to the point, so here it is. I have Mr. Parker. Or should I say Spider-Man? Either way, he’s here, and that’s where he’ll stay, unless I receive 2.5 million dollars, by Monday! Chop chop, the longer he’s here, the worse he gets. I’ll let you figure out what that means.” The man said, walking off camera.

“Or I’ll just show you.” He grinned, dragging a body back on screen. The body of Peter Parker. He was alive alright, but he was bruised and broken and looked about ready to cry.

Tony felt a hand grip his shoulder as he swayed dizzily.

“That’s all. Do as I say, and the boy will survive. Don’t do as I say, and… well, I’m sure you can figure that one out for yourself.” The man muttered, fiddling with the pistol in his hand absently. Tony’s blood went cold. 

The video cuts off abruptly, and Tony feels himself being led to the couch.

“Sit down Tony. Just breathe.” Tony had no idea if Steve or Natasha were speaking, but he tried his best to listen. The problem with breathing right now, was that he couldn’t.

“You have to relax. We’re going to find him, Tony. I promise.” That sounded like Natasha.

Breathing became easier and he forced his body to relax. Freaking out wasn’t going to help Peter.

-time jump-

They searched. My goodness did they search. For days. But they were running out of time, and Tony was getting sick of receiving daily videos of this man and his stupid face. ‘Proof of life’ he called it.

Sunday night at around 9:00pm Tony received a phone call.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Stark! Good evening! I do hope you’ve come to a decision by now, seeing as we’re running out of time.” The man had been very clear. If he hadn’t gotten his money by 10:00am Monday morning, Peter would die.

“I’m only gonna say this once. When I find him, not if,  _ when _ . When I find him, if he is not in one piece, I will  _ take you apart _ . Is that clear?” Tony growled. Every nerve in his body was screaming  _ protect _ , and it was almost painful. He simply had to protect Peter. There was never going to be another option.

The man laughed in response. “You think you can find him? Mr. Stark, this is my life’s work. I’ve been doing this since I was 20 years old. And buddy, I’m the best. So if you wanna waste the next 13 hours searching for your boy, then by all means, feel free to. But it will lead nowhere.”

“Either you pay the ransom, or this boy will die. There is no third option.” The man boasted, and Tony could practically hear the arrogant grin on his face.

“How do I get it to you?” Tony asked, ignoring the silent protest from Steve.

“I’ll give you an address. You will drop off the money, and you will leave. Once I collect my money, I’ll call you will another address with Mr. Parker’s location. It’s that simple.” Tony sighed. He didn’t want to give this man what he wanted, but did that really matter with Peter’s life on the line?

“What’s the first address?” Natasha handed him a pen and paper, and he wrote down the first address.

The man then hung up, and Tony grabbed his keys.

“Tony where are you going?” Steve asked, while Natasha followed Tony wordlessly out the front door. 

“I’m getting Peter. Care to join us?” Tony quipped, climbing into his car with Natasha. Steve sighed, but joined nonetheless.

They arrived at the first address, an empty, abandoned home. On the front porch was a wooden crate for Tony to place the money in. He followed the instructions perfectly, not caring that it was a dent in his pride. Peter was more important.

As soon as he was done he got back in the car and started driving aimlessly, awaiting the second call. Minutes later, the phone rang.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. I believe Peter will appreciate it.” The man listed off the second address, and Tony practically threw the phone down as he sped East.

“Tony, slow down.” Natasha warned gently. “The last thing Peter needs is us getting in an accident or pulled over.”

Tony ignored her. Nothing could make him slow this car down right now. Not Natasha, not Steve, not even a god damned zombie apocalypse.

The second location was a large warehouse, and Tony walked straight in. Sitting in a chair in the middle of the floor was Peter, his hands held behind his back by vibranium cuffs, and he was slumped in the seat, unconscious.

“Peter!” Tony shouted, rushing to the kid, Natasha and Steve close behind.

Steve got to work freeing Peter’s hands while Nat and Tony tried to wake him up.

“маленький паук, can you wake up?” Natasha asked, resting her hand on Peter’s cheek. The teenager moaned quietly, leaning his head into the touch.

“Hey, Peter. Welcome back. Can you look at me?” Tony asked, brushing Peter’s knotted curls off of his forehead.

Peter’s eyes peeled open and locked on Tony, a small smile on his face. “Hey, M’ser St’rk.” Peter’s voice was slurred and he seemed completely exhausted, but he was talking and that was good enough for now.

“Hey, squirt. How are you feeling?” Tony smiled, every muscle in his body relaxing.

“Like I got hit by a truck.” Peter groaned, pulling his now free hands into his lap.

“Let’s get you to Bruce. How does that sound?” Natasha asked, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulder.

“Thanks.” Peter muttered, letting Nat and Tony lift him onto his feet. 

They walked him out to the car, Peter limping and leaning heavily into Tony’s side. The trip back to the tower was slow, because Natasha insisted on following the law. Tony almost regretted letting her drive, but he preferred to sit in the back with Peter. As if he was going to take his eyes off his kid at all for the next month. What a joke.

When they arrived, Steve offered to carry Peter inside, and the teenager gratefully accepted.

“Peter! Thank god. Are you alright?” Bruce called, setting down his tea and hurrying to follow Steve to the med bay.

Peter was mostly fine. Save for a broken ankle and some superficial cuts and bruises, but he’d be healed by morning. Well, the ankle might take longer.

Tony nearly passed out as the stress of the last week flooded away and relief overcame him. Peter was  _ fine. _ And Peter was  _ safe. _ Which meant that Tony could breathe again.

“You gotta stop doing this, kid.” Tony groaned, resting his forehead on the edge of Peter’s bed.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. But to be fair, it’s not like I’m trying to get myself kidnapped.” Peter joked, not feeling even a little bit of the concern Tony was.

There were just too many people out there that wanted Peter Parker. And even more that wanted Spider-Man. And Tony would always,  _ always _ come for Peter, but what if one day he’s too late?

Tony wasn't the kind to exaggerate, and he was sure that if Peter were to die, it would kill Tony. It would completely destroy him. And he knew he couldn’t keep Peter safe forever. And that scared Tony more than anything else in the galaxy.

The idea that someone could take his kid away from him forever, and he’d be powerless to stop it, nearly made him vomit right then and there. So he decided to stop thinking about it.

“Just don’t do it anymore.” Tony grumbled, smacking Peter’s shoulder. Peter chuckled.

“Yes, mom.” Peter mocked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re nearing the end! I’m getting really amped up for the last chapter, I’ve been meaning to write the last prompt for over a year, just never got around to it!


	28. Beaten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash beats Peter up at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a direct continuation of chapter 25.

It got worse.

Peter came home from school that Tuesday and rushed straight to his room without even looking at the avengers. Tony could tell that someone was wrong, so he followed Peter into his room, Natasha straight at his heels. As usual.

“Pete? Can we come in?” Tony called, knocking gently on the door. He heard a loud groan.

“No! Go away!” Peter shouted, throwing what Tony assumes was a pillow at the door.

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but Natasha shushed him. “Let me try.” She whispered, and Tony relented.

“маленький паук? Can I please come in? I promise that whatever it is, I won’t get mad. I just want to help.” She said, and as Tony expected, the door creaked open, and Peter’s face appeared.

Now it all made sense. The kid had a wicked black eye, and the split lip still bleeding wasn’t easing Tony’s concern.

“Peter!” Tony shouted in shock, but he was once again silenced by Natasha.

“Can you tell me what happened?” She asked sweetly, leading Peter to sit on the bed. Tony followed quietly.

“Flash.” Peter mumbled, glancing nervously at Tony. Tony, surprisingly, remained calm.

“Did Flash beat you up?” Natasha asked, trying to clarify the situation. She never liked it when people jumped to conclusions. Peter only nodded.

“And why did he do that?” She pressed, ignoring the tensed muscles in Tony’s arms.

“Because I called him a dick. He pushed MJ, and you can’t just push a girl! So I called him a dick and told him to back off and he hit me. I didn’t wanna hurt him so I just let him keep hitting me. Eventually Mr. Harrington stepped in and pulled Flash away from me.” Peter told the story without even looking up, and Tony couldn’t tell if he was upset that he got beaten up or he was upset that Tony would be mad at him. Which he  _ wasn’t _ .

“Peter, we’ve talked about this. You’re allowed to fight back.” Tony told him, ignoring how angry he was. Not at Peter. Tony could never be mad at Peter. No, Tony was  _ pissed _ at this Flash kid.

“Mr. Stark, I’ve already told you! I couldn’t then, so I shouldn’t now!” Peter insisted, finally looking up from the bed. “Just because I got lucky and that spider bit me doesn’t mean I can start beating up teenagers that harass me.”

“Then I’m calling your principal. This is ridiculous. Anti-bullying policy, my ass!” Tony snapped, already leaving the room.

“Ignore him, he’s just worried about you. Are you okay?” Natasha redirected Peter’s attention, not wanting him to worry about the principal taking action.

Peter sighed. “My face hurts, but I’ll be fine by morning. If the principal punishes Flash, he might actually murder me.” Peter groaned, his hands covering his face.

“Peter, this isn’t about what Flash might do. This is about your safety. You can’t get beat up, and then expect us to stay out of it. We only want what’s best for you.” She assured him, pulling him into a hug.

“You know you’re the closest thing to a son any of us have ever had? We practically treat you like our son, you might as well be. We care about you, Peter. And we want to look out for you.” She continued, kissing the top of his head.

“Well you guys are the closest thing to parents I’ve ever had.” Peter replied, nuzzling into her chest.

Natasha spent her entire life hating herself. After her ‘graduation ceremony’ from the Red Room, she thought she was the last person in the world to ever have a chance at motherhood. She was dangerous, and for the rest of her life people would come for her. So how could she ever bring a child into that?

But then a super-teenager quite literally swung into her life and from day one he was hers. She absolutely adored him. He was nerdy, and sweet, and responsible, and funny.

She’d never cared about someone like she cared about Peter. Like he was the one thing she had to protect no matter what. It was strange. Caring about someone so much you’d die for them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Tony yelling in the other room. Peter groaned again, pressing a pillow to his face.

“I don’t care who his parents are! Do they know who  _ I _ am?! You tell Mr. and Mrs. Thompson that if their twerp comes near my kid again I will reign down on them like the fires of hell. And I’ll make sure the only school that kid ever gets into is janitorial school! They should be glad we’re not pressing charges! Do you understand me?!”

Peter sighed heavily, plugging his ears. Natasha began petting his hair. She’d never tell him this, but the act calmed her as much as it seemed to calm him.

“Good! Tell them they can sue my ass for every cent I’ve got! I’ll earn it all back within a month anyway. Do not think for one second I won’t get you fired Mr. Wilson. Yes, I hope you do. Good day, sir!” Tony yelled, hanging up the phone.

By the time he returned to Peter’s room he was completely relaxed, a smile on his face.

“Don’t worry, I handled it.” He promised, patting Peter’s knee.

“Thanks.” Peter mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“What is it, Peter?” Natasha asked, noticing that he was on the verge of tears.

“I don’t want you guy getting in trouble because of me. And I definitely don’t want the Thompsons suing Mr. Stark.” Peter whined, wiping a tear away.

“Peter, listen. I don’t care about money, and I don’t care about legal trouble. I care about  _ you. _ Money doesn’t matter to me. It never has.” Tony told him, and Peter could see he meant every word of it.

“Peter, look at me.” Natasha said, and she waited for Peter to turn around and face her. “Haven’t you figured out by now, that we would quite literally crawl to the ends of the earth for you? None of us care about meaningless materialistic things like money. We just care about you.”

Now they were making Peter cry more! But I’m a good way this time.

“Get some sleep. Take a nice nap. I’ll go make you some tea.” Natasha offered, leaving the room. Tony moved to follow her, but he paused in the doorway.

“Hey Pete?” He called, and Peter looked up at him. “I love you, kid.” Then he just left!

Now that, Peter was  _ definitely _ going to think about for the next ten years.


	29. Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter becomes so overwhelmed with stress that his body shuts down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one doesn’t lead into anything in the last few chapters, sorry about that. However, if this chapter gets some attention, I just might write an entire fic about this chapter.

The stress was nearly unbearable. Junior year was the most important grade, which meant junior finals were a huge deal. And Peter had four to take and only three days left to prepare. Not to mention the threats that Secretary Ross had begun sending to Mr. Stark.

He knew that Tony had Spider-Man’s true identity, and he wanted it. Because, since Peter was a superhero, he had to sign the accords. And Secretary Ross wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Every day the threats became more and more immediate. Last week he said he would hunt Spider-Man down in the streets of Queens.

Two days ago he said he’d come to the Avengers Tower personally and voice analyze everyone in the building to see if their voice matched records of Spider-Man.

And this morning?

‘ _ Tony, I’ll tell you this once. If you do not surrender Spider-Man by Friday, I will have no choice but to take each and every Avenger into custody and force it out of you. Am I clear?’ _

Tony tried to keep all of this hidden from Peter. No point in freaking him out. But Natasha didn’t agree, so she pulled Peter aside after every call to fill him in. And the stress was eating away at Peter’s brain.

Friday morning, the day of his exams, the day Secretary Ross threatened to come, Peter woke up to find that he couldn’t move. Not because he was paralyzed, not because he was restrained. No, he was just numb.

The stress had gotten so bad, and had accumulated so ferociously, that Peter’s body literally just shut down. He layed in bed for over half an hour, just staring at the ceiling, trying to convince himself to simply sit up.

Tony came to wake him up at 7:00am, only to find Peter already awake. “Rise and shine, squirt.”

“Can’t.” Peter muttered, not even looking up at Tony.

“What do you mean you can’t? Are you okay?” Tony asked, feeling Peter’s forehead.

“Don’t know. Just can’t.” Peter sighed, somehow managing to lift his hand long enough to bury his eyes in his elbow.

“Are you sick?” Tony continued to pester over Peter, not seeming to get the message. Peter didn’t  _ know _ why. He just  _ couldn’t. _

And maybe it was the anxiety. Or maybe it was the stress. But Peter was practically glued to his bed.

“FRIDAY, get Banner.” Tony called, ignoring the following ‘Yes, Boss’ from the AI.

Dr. Banner arrived moments later, and he settled on the side of Peter’s bed.

“Peter? Can you tell me what's going on?” Why did they keep asking him? How many times did he have to say it?

“ _ I don’t know. _ ” He insisted, sighing again.

“Tony, how’s Peter been acting the last few days?” Bruce asked, and Peter was relieved. Finally someone was figuring out that this wasn’t physical.

“Stressed. Withdrawn. He spends almost all day in his room. And the smallest things ticked him off. I thought it was just a teenager thing.” Tony told him, running a hand through his hair.

“Peter, I think you’re experiencing an acute stress reaction.” Bruce said. “They’re pretty common, but to cause full body numbness is rare.”

“What’s essentially happening, is that Peter’s body has become so stressed out that it didn’t know how to react, so it just shut down. Peter, what’s causing this?”

“I have finals today. And junior year is  _ really _ important. Oh, also. Maybe it’s the fact that Mr. Ross is hunting me like a dog. Maybe that’s it.” Peter spoke with no emotion, and Tony couldn’t help noticing that FRIDAY spoke with more emotion than Peter currently was.

“Secretary Ross? Tony, you didn’t tell me about this.” Bruce accused, turning to glare at Tony.

“Because it doesn’t matter! You know Ross’ bark is bigger than his bite. There’s no way he’s personally gonna fly out here to find the kid. And if he does, so help me god, I’ll kill him.” Tony snapped.

“Well he’s causing Peter so much stress that his body literally can’t process it. It doesn’t know what to do anymore!” Bruce shouted, gesturing at where Peter remained on the bed in the exact same position Tony had found him in.

“What do you want me to do, Bruce? It’s not like I can kill the man without self defense as an excuse!” Tony insisted, not even noticing when Natasha entered the room.

“Would you two stop shouting? Poor Peter is stressed enough. Look at him.” Natasha ordered, sitting next to Peter on the bed.

“How did you-?”

“FRIDAY asked me to come in here. Said you two were torturing the poor kid. Now take this outside.” She snapped, pulling Peter into her lap. Tony opened his mouth to argue, but Natasha’s glare shut him up. He and Bruce left, and Natasha worked on helping Peter relax.

“I know that Ross has got you worried. But don’t be. He has no authority to come looking for you, at least not without official government approval. Spider-Man is the opposite of a threat, they’d never approve a man hunt. And even if they did, we would protect you. You know that.” She assured him, running her fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, I know. That’s exactly why I’m scared. If Ross does come for me, and you guys protect me, you’ll get yourselves in trouble. I hate when you guys get hurt because of me.” Peter whined, looking up at her with tears in his eyes.

“I know you do, Peter. But you can’t honestly expect us to stand down. You are a part of this team, and we protect our own.”

“No.” Peter said, feeling all the energy return to his body. He sat up to face her.

“If Ross comes for me, you have to stand down, Tasha. And you have to stop the others. I can’t watch you guys get hurt or in trouble because of me.” He said emphatically, and she could see he meant it.

“Peter-” She started, but he interrupted her.

“No!  _ Promise me _ , Natasha.” He insisted, and the use of her full name was enough to tell her he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

She didn’t want to promise. But only because she wasn’t sure she could keep it. If Ross came barreling through the front door to drag Peter away, she didn’t know if she could stand by and let it happen. How could she?

“Peter, I don’t think I can.” She told him.

“Natasha, you have to. Please. The only way Ross could ever hurt me is by hurting you or the others. If you’re safe, and they’re safe, then he can’t hurt me. Please, I’m begging you, if Ross comes, you have to  _ stand down. _ ” Peter begged, grabbing her hand.

She’d never seen him this desperate. This serious. It was strange. But she wanted to give him whatever he wanted, he seemed so so desperate.

“Okay. I promise.” The weight of those words nearly crushed her. No matter what, she had to keep her promise. Which meant forcing Tony, Steve, and Bruce to stand down as well.

Steve and Bruce she might be able to logic her way around, convince them of what Peter had convinced her. But Tony? He was another story.

Tony was the most stubborn man she’d ever met. And to tell him to let the man he hates most drag his son away from him off to god knows where- probably the raft- would not go over easily.

But she made a promise. So she was going to do her damndest to get it done.

“Thank you.” He said, his shoulders sagging in relief.

“You have school.” Natasha said, handing Peter his backpack, before leaving so he could get dressed.

Natasha felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders as she entered the living room. Rogers was currently making breakfast for everyone, eggs and toast, and he seemed oblivious to the day’s events.

Tony and Bruce were on the couch watching the morning news, Tony’s feet up on the coffee table as he sipped his tea. Bruce had put him on a zero coffee diet, claiming it was ‘exacerbating his nerves’. Tony wasn’t too happy about that, but he surrendered after days of pestering from Bruce.

Moments later Peter came bustling through the room like a tornado, stuffing his face with food and sprinting out the door with nothing more than a ‘see ya!’ Clearly he felt better.

Natasha crossed her arms anxiously, not sure how to approach this conversation.

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” She asked, and Bruce dropped his newspaper to look up at her.

“Sup’ Widow?” Tony asked, changing the channel.

“This is important, Stark.” She insisted, and that seemed to get his attention.

“What’s up?” He asked again, fully engaged this time. Steve came over to sit on the couch to join the conversation.

“Peter made me promise him something, and it involves you three.” She started, noticing how worried Tony looked immediately.

“What was it?” He asked cautiously, knowing that Peter could get anyone to promise anything.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the situation involving Secretary Ross?” She asked, looking at Steve. He nodded grimly.

“Peter made me promise that if Ross does come for him, the four of us would stand down.” She said, waiting for the explosion. And it came.

“You did what?!” Tony shouted, standing up.

“Tony, hear me out. I think Peter’s right.” She spoke calmly, not wanting to start a fight.

“But-” Tony started, being shushed by Bruce.

“Please explain. How is he right?” Bruce asked, seeming confused.

“Peter told me that the only way Ross could hurt him is by hurting us. He says that if we’re okay, he’s okay. That makes sense to me. Besides, if we intervene and Ross kills one of us, that’s one less person to help get Peter back.” Steve nodded, and Natasha knew he was already on her side.

“She’s right. We can’t help Peter by getting ourselves killed.” He added, mostly speaking to Tony.

“What? Oh, so you just expect me to stand here and do nothing while that  _ psychopath _ drags my kid off to some underwater hellhole? No. No way!” Tony shouted, gesticulating angrily.

“Tony, Peter made me promise. Besides, what do you think it would do to him to watch a third father die in front of him?” Natasha asked, glaring at Tony.

“That’s not fair.” He said, glaring back.

“Yes it is. Answer me. What would it do to Peter? To watch you die in front of him? Any of you. I won’t let you do that to him. He’s been through enough.” She snapped, not looking away from Tony.

Tony paused, sitting back down on the couch. Steve and Bruce remained quiet, letting the two hash it out. Neither of them wanted to get involved.

“I won’t promise that.” Tony spoke quietly, staring at the floor.

“Anthony Stark-” She was interrupted by him looking up at her with sad eyes.

“Natasha, I don’t think I  _ can. _ Even if I wanted to. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” Tony said, running a hand down his face. She moved forward to crouch in front of him. 

“We are Ross’ only bargaining chips. As long as we’re healthy and alive, so is Peter. Ross knows torture won’t work with that kid. Or at least he’ll find out pretty quickly. Listen, I’m not happy about this either, you know that. But I trust Peter. And if he says this will give him even the slightest sliver of peace in that wretched place, that’s good enough for me.” She told him, a hand on his knee. Tony looked up at her, and the two made eye contact for a few seconds.

“Okay. Okay! I promise.” He sighed heavily, leaning back into the couch.

“Me too.” Bruce said. “I promise. Now I can’t speak for the big guy, but I can speak for myself.” Natasha offered him a smile.

“I promise too. Peter’s right.” Steve said, nodding joylessly.

“We might be doing this for nothing. Ross might never come.” She said, trying to remain positive. But the men in the room didn’t seem to agree.

“Dibs on picking the kid up after school.” She exclaimed, glancing at where Tony was staring off into space, chewing his nails.

Bruce and Steve had already gone back to what they were doing when she walked in. Natasha decided it best to leave Tony to his devices. This was something he needed to work out on his own.

So instead, she went to the gym. Taking out her frustrations on a punching back seemed much healthier and more efficient than taking them out on Ross’ face.

At 3:15pm Natasha left to pick up Peter. He was waiting for her by the front gate of his school.

“Hey Tasha!” He called as he climbed into the passenger seat, immediately reaching for the radio. She gently stopped his hand.

“We have to talk.” She said, turning to face him.

“Oh. Did you talk to them?” He asked, looking at the strap on his backpack.

“Yes I did. And they all promised. Even Tony. But he was difficult to convince if I’m honest.” Peter looked up at that.

“They all promised?” He asked, seeming like all the tension in his body was whisked away.

“Yes. Now, let’s get some fast food on the way home and not tell the guys.” Peter always loved fast food, and Natasha understood it. Despite her figure and the fact that everyone assumed she was a health nut, she would always make an exception for Jack in the Box.

In truth, Steve and Bruce were the health nuts. No surprise there. Tony ate anything they put in front of him. And so did Peter.

“Oh score! By the way, I’m feeling really good about my finals today. I had some trouble with a few physics questions, but I’m pretty sure I figured it out.” Peter told her, seeming happy. She smiled back at him.

“I knew you could do it. You’re like a baby Einstein.” She joked, pulling out of the parking lot.

The two of them laughed and joked the whole way home, ignoring the stares Natasha got at the drive through window. Sometimes she couldn’t tell if they were looking at her because they recognized her as Black Widow, or just because they thought she was pretty.

Once they arrived back at the tower, Peter hurried up to his room to do his homework, and Natasha got the feeling he was avoiding Tony on purpose.

“Go talk to him.” She mouthed at Tony, falling onto the couch and putting her feet in Steve’s lap.

Tony sighed, before heading upstairs to Peter’s room. He knocked twice before he heard a response.

“Come in.” Peter called, dropping his homework on the bed.

“Hey kid.” Tony said, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

“Hey.”

They remained silent for a minute or two, neither of them wanting to start.

“I think you’re a massive idiot.” Tony blurted out, and Peter didn’t even acknowledge him.

“Yes, I did promise. And because I’m a good person, I’m going to do my best to keep that promise. But don’t think I’m not pissed about it. Not at you though. Just the situation. But also slightly at you.” Peter nodded silently, fidgeting with his hands.

“I appreciate you promising. And I hope you understand why I asked that of you guys in the first place.” Peter said, still not looking up from his hands.

“I do, kid. If I were you I’d do the same thing. And you’d say no, because you’re a stubborn kid. I get it Peter, I do. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. However, since you made me promise something, you owe me a promise.” Peter finally looked up.

“Yeah, what?” He asked, chewing on his lip absentmindedly.

“Promise me, that if Ross does come for you, you will cooperate, and you won’t do anything stupid to get yourself hurt or killed. Promise me that you’ll trust us to come for you.” Tony hated that he was even having this conversation right now.

They were being forced to make plans because in advance they knew someone might come and practically kidnap Peter, and there was  _ nothing _ they could do about it. Because, despite all logic and justice, it was  _ legal. _ This whole thing was legal. All because Peter got bit by a bug.

Tony remembered what Ross had done to the rogue Avengers. And he remembered how infuriating it was to be forced to sit back and let it happen, for fear of legal retaliation. Luckily, Rogers had rescued them illegally, so Tony could sleep better at night. And even luckier, Ross let him get away with it.

But Tony couldn’t help feeling like coming for Peter was some sick kind of payback. And considering the way Ross and his people had treated Wanda, a damn teenage girl, he could only imagine the way they’d treat Peter. And it made him sick to think about.

“Yeah. I promise. No stupid stuff.” Peter said, raising his hands in surrender. That eased Tony’s concern at least a little bit.

If Peter cooperated, and Tony didn’t want to think this but he had to, and Peter acted like a model  _ prisoner _ , maybe Ross would go easy on the kid long enough for Tony and the others to get to him.

When Ross first arrived, there would be nothing they could do, because there would be men with guns. But the second Ross and Peter set foot on the raft-

Tony had to pause and take a deep breath because the thought of Peter in that  _ hellhole _ was making his stomach twist painfully.

The second Peter and Ross landed on the raft, the Avengers could take legal action. And Tony was sure that with Rhodey’s help he could get Peter exonerated, considering he’s a minor and wasn’t involved in any of the major events Ross used as an excuse to create the accords.

Minors weren’t allowed to sign contracts, and any contracts they do sign are not legally binding. And the minute Tony explains that to Rhodey’s government contacts, Peter will be let go.

Now the day Peter turns 18, this all changes and becomes much more difficult. But at least they’ll buy some time. Hopefully enough time for Tony to completely dismantle the entire accords problem.

“Okay, good. Just… keep your head down until this all blows over. No patrolling, no Spider-Man. You go to school and you come straight home. And one of us is driving you to and from every day, no more walking.” Tony said, feeling like he was grounding the poor kid.

“Got it.” Peter agreed, offering Tony a thumbs up.

“Finish your homework, squirt.” Tony ordered gently, before heading back down to the living room.

“Kid’s gonna give me a damn stroke. Bruce can stress cause a stroke?” Tony joked, grabbing a soda from the fridge. Bruce had also put Tony on a zero alcohol diet.

“Actually, yes it can. Why? Should I be concerned?” Bruce asked, looking up from his newspaper.

“Not sure yet.” Tony answered half honestly.

The avengers, minus Peter, remained in the living the rest of the day, watching movies and reminiscing on the first few Avengers missions.

Meanwhile Tony tried his best to avoid that stroke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two left! Little spoilers, the prompts are ‘Recovery’ and ‘Embrace’! I’m super excited to finish this off!


	30. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter comes home after the events of Far From Home, and his family help him recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Siiiiiigh. I’m not proud of this at all.

The plane didn’t land until 3:45pm and Natasha watched as Tony anxiously bounces his knee up and down.

“Tony, he’s fine.” She reminded him, not admitting that she herself was anxious.

They’d seen it all over the news. Spider-Man fighting Mysterio in Prague, then Berlin, then finally London. At first he was fighting the ‘Elementals’, and it took everything in Tony’s power not to fly out there and help. But Natasha reminded him that if they assisted, it would draw more suspicion that ‘Night Monkey’ was actually Spider-Man. And they couldn’t have that.

So the Avengers stayed in New York, and they watched from the sidelines. Peter did an exceptional job. And they had no reason to worry. That is, until Happy called.

Happy had been sent to keep an eye on Peter, so that someone was nearby if he needed anything. What they didn’t expect was for Peter to call Happy from the middle of nowhere after having been hit by a train! Not to mention he was convinced Happy was some illusion and not really there.

Once Happy filled them in that Quentin Beck was really just a man with illusion tech, and a massive ego, Natasha practically had to physically restrain Tony from flying to London.

They watched anxiously as Peter fought Mysterio, seeming like he had it under control. But Tony did nothing but worry the entire day.

So now they were sitting at an airport waiting for Peter’s plane to land.

3:45pm about 20 teenagers came stumbling down the ramp of the plane, all staring in shock at Tony freaking Stark. Peter ignored them, rushing straight to Tony and Natasha.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Tony demanded, grabbing Peter’s cheeks and turning his head this way and that. Peter smacked his hands away.

“I told you on the phone, I’m fine! Everything already healed.” Peter reminded him, moving to hug Tasha.

“Not if you broke bones. Do you have broken bones?” Tony asked vehemently, dragging Peter back over to him.

“I mean, maybe a rib or two, but it’s  _ fine _ . Please stop freaking out.” Peter begged, hating when Tony smothered him like this.

“You are telling me everything when we get home. Where’s your stuff? Oh wait, it blew up. Let’s go.” Tony said, and Peter chuckled humorlessly. 

The trip back to the tower was quiet. Peter sat in the backseat staring out the window, and he couldn’t help but notice the two adults glancing at him nervously every few minutes.

Of course they were worried! Peter already had major trust issues, and Tony knew this would only make it worse. He thought Beck was his friend, and then he found out that he wanted nothing more than fame and fortune. And to kill Tony Stark.

One of the reasons Tony didn’t get involved with Mysterio is because Peter  _ insisted _ that he stay out of it, for fear of Tony’s safety. Beck was doing all of that to draw Tony out, and the last thing Peter wanted was for Tony to get killed because of him.

Once they arrived back at the tower Peter went straight to his room, ignoring the greetings from Steve and Bruce.

“I got it.” Tony announced, jogging up the stairs after Peter.

“Kid? Can I come in?” He didn’t receive a response, so he went in anyway.

“Talk to me, squirt. What’s going on?” Tony asked, crossing his legs on the bed.

“I’m an idiot. That’s what. I trusted Mr. Beck! I have him EDITH, and he nearly killed my friends with it. And I had to kill him…” Peter trailed off, burying his face in his hands.

Tony had a feeling that would be the biggest trauma out of this situation. Peter always tried his best to not have to kill the people he fought. And he had a high success rate. Now that Tony was thinking about it, has Peter ever killed a human?

“First time you’ve killed a person.” Tony sighed, patting Peter’s shin. “It’s always hard, I know that. But you didn’t have a choice, Peter. If not him, it would’ve been you. Self defense is always a good reason. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but you just saved the world. All by yourself. I’m very proud of you.”

Peter took a deep breath, and Tony could tell he was trying not to cry. “Besides, you didn’t kill him. Those robots did. He was playing with fire, kid. It was always going to backfire on him. He got what was coming to him.”

“I thought he was my friend.” Peter whispered, staring at his shoes.

“I know you did. And I get why. He manipulated you, Peter. He wanted you to trust him so you’d hand over EDITH. Who, by the way, I’m destroying as soon as I leave here.” Tony told him, picking up the glasses from where they lay broken on Peter’s bedside table.

“I almost got everyone I care about killed.” Peter said, finally looking up at Tony.

“But that’s not what matters. What matters is that you figured it out quick enough to stop it. You saved your friends. And I’m sure they’re grateful. You did a good thing, Peter. And you will recover from this. I promise.” Tony insisted.

“Now. If you’re up for it, Natasha suggested a movie night. And Rogers wants to make dinner. You know how much that guy loves to cook.” Peter nodded, climbing out of bed to follow Tony back downstairs.

Peter immediately sat on the couch next to Natasha, letting her wrap an arm around his shoulders and kiss his hair.

“You did a great job, Peter. You did the best you could. Just remember маленький паук, everyone makes mistakes. But you fixed your mistake, and that’s enough.” She told him, giving him a squeeze. Peter smiled in response, snuggling into her side.

Bruce put on the third Star Wars movie, knowing it was Peter’s favorite and would cheer him up.

The recovery process would be slow. Peter’s trust had been damaged. But eventually, gradually, he would learn to trust people again. Just maybe not enough to hand over several billion dollar glasses that controlled thousands of machine gun powered drones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. So tomorrow is the last prompt, and let me just say in advance, I’m so sorry. Tomorrow is gonna fuck you up bad.
> 
> I’d offer archive warnings for the chapter but that would spoil the surprise.
> 
> If there are any specific trigger warnings you want to check whether they’re involved, feel free to ask me in the comments.
> 
> But get ready y’all. I cried writing it.


	31. Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a man attacking New York. Can the Avengers stop him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy

The fight was supposed to be easy. Some loser who called himself Laserbeam had attacked the city. From first glance, it seemed as though he had electricity powers, firing bolts of light every which way.

The Avengers received the news ten minutes after Laserbeam arrived, and they hurried to the heart of the city, where his attack had begun.

At first it was difficult. They were still just starting to understand the extent of his powers, and it seemed he had more than one. He also had the ability to fly, well, it was more like hovering, but it made everything much more difficult.

Rogers took the leadership role, as usual, and Peter followed his directions perfectly. This was a little out of Peter’s pay grade, and the last thing he wanted was to mess up.

In a few days Peter would barely remember the fight itself. He’d only remember the way it ended. But let’s not be too hasty.

-One hour ago-

“Morning, Mr. Stark!” Peter called, grabbing some toast off the counter.

“Mornin’, kid.” Tony replied, glancing up at Peter as he settled on the couch.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked, glaring at Peter accusingly.

“What?” Peter seemed shocked by Tony’s tone.

“Isn’t there somewhere else you should be?” Tony clarified, raising his eyebrows at Peter. 

“Oh! Yeah, school was cancelled today. Just got the call. No idea why though.” Peter shrugged, taking a bite of his toast without a care in the world.

“I’m calling the school. Not that I don’t believe you, it’s just that I don’t believe you.” Tony said, pulling out his phone.

“Hey!” Peter shouted, offended.

“Hi, my kid just told me that school was cancelled today, and I was wondering if you could tell me why?” Tony asked, giving Peter a suspicious glance.

“What?!” Tony suddenly shouted, standing up from the couch.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked, setting down his half eaten toast. Tony hung up the phone and took off down the hall, nearly running into Steve.

“Did you hear-?” “You see the news?” They asked at the same time, and now Peter felt even more confused.

“Yeah.” “Yes I did.” They spoke again, and Peter could barely hear them.

“Mr. Stark, what happened?” Peter asked.

“Someone’s attacking the city. Suit up, kid.” Then he ran off, probably to grab Natasha. Peter listened, jittery with excitement.

-Right Friggin’ Now-

Laser hit Steve in the chest with a bolt of electricity, sending him flying into a building across the street.

Peter was preoccupied getting civilians out of the surrounding buildings, and convening with the police. Meanwhile, Natasha and Tony were alongside Steve fighting Laserbeam.

Peter joined them in the street once Karen confirmed all the civilians had been saved. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but Natasha, Steve, and Peter ended up far enough away from Tony and Laser, that Peter couldn’t even hear what they were saying.

It all happened so fast. One second, it looked like Tony was winning. The next, there was a large blade protruding from the left side of his chest.

“No!” Peter screamed, moving to run towards the two. But he barely made it one step before strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him back.

“No! No no no! Let go of me!” He shrieked, fighting to break out of Steve’s hold.

By now Tony had fallen to his knees, and Laser let go of the blade, leaving it sticking out of Tony’s chest. The silence was deafening. Tony slowly pulled the blade out of his chest, letting it fall to the floor. The clash of the metal hitting the ground echoed in Peter’s mind.

The world seemed to slow down. Peter’s brain was  _ whirling _ , and he couldn’t think. Tony slumped back against a street lamp, too weak to sit up.

“Code green!” Natasha shouted through the earcoms, but Peter wasn’t listening.

“Captain,  _ please _ !” Peter screamed, struggling against the tight hold Steve had around the teenager’s waist.

“Peter! If you go over there, you’re going to die. Wait for Hulk.” Steve ordered, relieved as he felt Peter go limp in his arms.

Hulk crashed onto the battlefield roaring deafeningly. He launched Laserbeam into a surrounding building, and with the villain distracted, Steve let Peter go.

The teenager sprinted with everything he had to Tony’s side, followed closely by Steve and Natasha.

“Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark, hey _ . _ Hey, it’s Peter. Tony,  _ please. _ ” Peter begged, sitting on his knees in front of Tony.

“Kid.” Tony whispered, barely even looking at Peter.

“Hey. Hey, everything’s gonna be okay. Just stay with me. You have to.” Peter cried, a hand on Tony’s shoulder gripping so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“Peter.” Natasha said, petting Peter’s hair.

“ _ No _ ! No, I’m not leaving him.” Peter insisted, moving closer to Tony. 

The billionaire's eyes had slipped shut by now, and everyone could practically hear the silence followed by the stopping of Tony’s breathing.

“No no no. Oh god.” Peter whined, pulling Tony’s limo form into a hug. Maybe if he just held him tight enough, he couldn’t disappear. “Oh  _ god _ , please no.”

Natasha and Steve looked at each other on the verge of tears, ignoring the crashing of Hulk fighting Laserbeam in the background.

“Peter, honey. Come here.” Natasha called gently, pulling Peter away from Tony. Peter was sobbing so hard he couldn’t breathe, and Natasha felt her heart shatter.

“Peter, baby, you have to breathe.” She reminded him, wrapping him up in a hug.

“No. No, I can’t. I can’t. God, Tasha  _ please _ .” Peter begged, falling apart in her arms.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” She muttered, holding him tightly. Neither Natasha nor Steve had ever seen Peter, or anyone for that matter, cry like this. It was like his heart had been ripped out of his chest.

Finally, the Hulk must’ve defeated Laserbeam, because he joined them on the curb. Steve shook his head at Hulk’s curious expression, and even Hulk looked sad.

Peter must’ve passed out, because when he opened his eyes he was back in his bed. Sitting up nearly caused him physical pain, as though he was the one who’d been stabbed through the heart.

Peter forced himself to go to the kitchen, knowing he had to eat. No matter how little he wanted to.

“Morning, kid. How’d you sleep?”

“Morning, Mr. Stark. Slept fine. Considering.” Peter was missing something. Something right smack in front of his face.

“Considering what, Pete?” Tony asked, handing the kid a cup of tea.

“You know what, Mr. Stark.” Peter snapped, staring blankly into his tea.  _ Wait. _

“Mr. Stark?” Peter whispered, looking up with eyes wide as saucers.

“Yeah, kid. Who else?” Tony looked dumbfounded, like Peter had just told him the sky was blue.

He was even more confused when the teenager crashed into him, nearly knocking him over and making him drop his tea.

_ “Oh my god!” _ Peter cried, nearly crushing Tony with his super strength.

“Peter? What’s going on?” Tony asked, returning the hug hesitantly. He and Peter rarely hugged. Usually they saved it for life and death situations.

Peter pulled away, keeping a hand on Tony at all times, staring at his mentor like he was looking at a ghost.

“How are you-? What the hell happened? With Laserbeam and the fight! You- you were gone, you were dead. How are you here?” Not that he was complaining, but his brain was being fried by shock and confusion, and if he didn’t get a logical explanation he was worried he’d pass out.

“Laser- Who? Peter, what Are you talking about? You’ve been asleep all day!” Tony told him, staring at Peter incredulously.

“I was dreaming? Oh my god.” Peter whispered, falling back onto the couch. “It felt so real.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to be confused. “Let me get this straight. You dreamt that I died? And you didn’t know it was a dream when you woke up?” 

“No! I had no idea. I could’ve sworn it was real.” Peter insisted, his fist still clenching Tony’s shirt.

“Okay, well it wasn’t real. I’m fine, I’m right here.” Tony assured him, a hand on Peter’s arm. Peter took a deep breath, nodding to himself.

“Right. You’re right. It wasn’t real.” He agreed, running a hand through his hair.

Peter eventually returned to his room, the trauma and emotions having worn him out. He decided to sit back and watch some tv to calm himself down.

But when he turned it on…

_ ‘There’s currently an attack on the city! The assailant seems to be some sort of mutant. Who, if anyone, will save us?’ _ The news woman asked, the camera panning towards the action.

Peter felt his blood go cold. Because right in the middle of street, was the man from his nightmare.  _ Laserbeam. _

“No…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyyy. Like I said, I’m sorry about this. It messed me up to write it. Sorry if you cried or anything. It just felt like this story needed a massive finale of some sort.
> 
> And that’s the end! I can’t believe I even completed this! It was a massive project and a huge challenge for me as a writer, but I’m really proud of myself for finishing. If you read any of this, thank you very much! I appreciate you wasting your time on me <3


End file.
